re 

786 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


J^HUANTEPEC 
SHIP    RAILWAY 


1884. 


THE 


Tehuantepec  Ship  Railway; 


ITS 


Practicability  and  Commercial  Features. 


From    "THE    MEXICAN    FINANCIER,' 
December,  1884. 


NEW  YORK  : 
BOWNE  &  Co.,  PRINTERS,  124  PEARL  STREET. 

1884. 


' 


GIFT 


Tehuantupec  Ship  Railway, 


DESIGNED  TO  TRANSPORT   VESSELS   OVERLAND    HE 
1UEEN    THE   ATI   \NIIC   AND    PACIFIC    OCEANS, 
ACROSS  TH1     IsTHMUS  OF  TEHUAN  I  1  i 

I\    MI. XI CO. 


In  tlu-  tlisi  tis>ion  of  this  sul.jrrt.  \\e  propose  to  show 
the  commercial  necessity,  practicability,  advantages.  I  nisi 
,uul   revenue  of  the  'Ij.m  C   Sun-   R.\ll,v 

PIR 

CON  IN 

Mountains  of  the  United  States,  the  S 

Ire  of  Mexico,  the  Cordilleras  of  Central  America,  and 

the   Andes  of  South    America   form   an   almost   continuous 

harrier,   so   lofty  and  t  .s  to  be   nearly  impassable 

to    man    in    his    commercial  pursuits        The    railways    that 

these  heights  by  an   immense  expenditure  of  moi 
seeking  the  business  of  the  fertile  valleys  on  each  si 
to  an  altitude  of  several  thousand  feet,  soar  up  among  the 
clouds,  climb  over  the  rocky  barrier,  and  descend  the  moun- 
tain sides  by  grades  almost  impracticable  for  their  heavily 
loaded  These    mountain   barriers  separate  at  least 

seventy  million  people  living  in  Mexico,  the  United  St 
and  Canada,  nearly  all   of  whom  would   be  benefited  by  the 
breaking  down  of  this  obstruction  to  their  agricultural,  man- 
ufacturing and  commercial  prosperity. 

The  latest  compilation  of  the  internal  commerce  of  the 
I'nited  States  alone,  shows  an  aggregate  amount  of  over  ten 


m 


billions  of  dollars  per  annum  ;  more  than  the  value  of  all 
the  foreign  commerce  of  Great  Britain,  France,  German}', 
Russia,  Holland,  Austria  and  Belgium  combined.  This 
internal  commerce  is  carried  on  through  the  network  of 
her  rivers,  her  extensive  coast  line  and  her  railroads.  The 
productions  of  the  United  States,  of  almost  every  kind,  are 
becoming  superabundant,  requiring  for  the  full  extension 
and  growth  of  its  varied  industries  a  commercial  interchange 
with  other  nations  lying  to  the  east  or  to  the  west  of  her 
obstructing  mountain  ranges.  The  Pacific  coast,  with  all 
its  remarkable  development  of  the  past  few  years,  now  finds 
itself  too  far  away  from  the  markets  of  those  nations  which 
need  its  surplus  productions.  India  and  Australia  are  making" 
strong  efforts  to  supply  the  demand  of  those  countries  which 
the  Pacific  coast  labors  in  vain  to  reach  over  a  course  of 
sixteen  thousand  miles  around  Cape  Horn.  The  transconti- 
nental railroad  lines  cannot  afford  to  carry  grain  from  Port- 
land and  San  Francisco  to  New  York  for  home  consumption 
or  transhipment  to  Liverpool.  The  producers  and  shippers 
alike  look  with  anxious  eyes  to  every  project  for  breaking 
down  the  Isthmian  barrier  which  now  stands  between  them 
and  the  markets  of  the  world,  and  places  them  four  months 
away  from  their  customers. 

The  Pacific  coast  is  separated  not  only  from  the  Atlarftic 
and  Kuropean  ports,  but  from  the  eastern  coast  of  South 
America  and  the  West  Indies,  and  especially  from  the  Gulf 
ports  t)f  the  United  States,  which  are  the  natural  entrepots 
and  exporting  centres  of  all  the  immense  surplus  productions 
of  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The  value  of  the 
annual  productions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  is  estimated  at 
nearly  four  billion  dollars,  and  their  natural  outlet  to  the 
world  is  through  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  reaching  it  through 
the  sixteen  thousand  miles  of  navigable  rivers,  trunk  and 
branches  of  the  Mississippi,  seeking  by  water  and  rail  the 
great  commercial  city  of  New  Orleans,  second  to  New  York 
alone  in  the  value  of  her  exports.  Here  let  it  be  said,  that 
while  opening 'to  the  world's  commerce  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  by  removing  the  barrier  at  the  mouth  of  the 
River,  Mr.  JAMES  B.  EADS  conceived  the  greater  work  of 
removing  the  more  serious  obstacle  to  commerce  that, 


directly  across  the  Gulf  from  the  jetties  at  the  mouth  of 
the  South  Pass,  rises  up  between  the  oceans  and  between 
the  nations.  Again,  Galveston,  the  seaport  city  of  Texas,  (a 
State  of  two  millions  of  inhabitants,  with  six  thousand  miles 
of  railways)  is  still  more  completely  isolated  than  New 
Orleans  ;  with  deep  water  secured  for  its  harbor,  it  will 
need  even  more  than  at  present  a  direct  outlet  for  its  com- 
merce into  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Again,  Boston,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  many  intermediate  ports  and 
their  tributary  territory  are  excluded  by  the  same  barrier 
from  all  that  lies  west  of  these  chains  of  mountains,  not  only 
the  western  coast  of  South  America,  as  far  south  as  Chili,  and 
the  western  coast  of  Mexico,  but  the  eastern  coasts  of  the 
old  world — Japan,  China,  India,  Australasia,  and  the  almost 
numberless  Isles  of  the  Pacific.  The  United  States  and 
Mexico  need  the  surplus  peculiar  productions  of  these  coun- 
tries ;  they  need  our  manufactured  products  ;  but  the  in- 
terchange can  now  be  carried  on  only  by  transhipment  and 
railroad  carriage  over  the  Panama  Isthmus,  at  a  cost  of 
from  ten  to  twenty-five  dollars  per  ton  of  freight,  and  twenty- 
five  dollars  per  head  of  passengers,  or  by  the  long,  circuitous 
and  dangerous  passage  around  Cape  Horn  or  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  or  the  expensive  route,  via  the  Suez  Canal. 

Great  Britain,  the  great  carrier  of  the  nations,  whose  flag 
floats  over  seventy  per  cent,  of  the  world's  marine,  suffers 
from  this  barrier  standing  stolidly  and  forever  between  her 
and  the  commercial  objects  of  her  desire.  This  barrier  is 
also  an  obstruction  to  the  commerce  of  France  and  other 
maritime  nations  of  Europe. 

To  sum  up  these  general  statements  and  to  bring  together 
these  various  features  of  the  subject  ;  the  world  needs  a 
Gateway  through  the  mountains,  a  path  broad  and  plain  for 
the  intercommunication  of  the  nations,  on  the  shortest  pos- 
sible lines,  for  the  transportation  of  the  varied  products  which 
each  nation  has  in  surplus  for  the  other's  need.  More  than 
most  other  nations  does  the  United  States  require  that 
extension  of  her  coast  line  from  the  east  to  the  west,  and 
the  west  to  the  east,  which  a  navigable  connection  between 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Pacific,  will  give  her.  More 
vitally  still,  though  the  magnitude  of  the  commerce  is  less, 


6 

does  the  Republic  of  Mexico  need  a  union  of  her  east  and 
west  coast  lines  across  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  as  an 
auxiliary  to  the  extensive  and  necessary  railway  system 
which  this  young  republic  has  so  heroically  inaugurated  at 
great  present  sacrifice,  but  for  the  future  greatness  and  pros- 
perity to  which  her  wonderful  natural  resources- entitle  her. 
With  the  railroads,  and  the  Ship  Railway  ;  with  abundant 
communication  by  land  and  by  sea  ;  with  the  throbbings  of  a 
new  strong  national  life,  and  with  an  internal  and  coastwise 
commerce  of  her  own,  she  will  eventually  reach  such  a  lofty 
position  among  the  nations,  that  her  statesmen  will  be  proud 
of  the  great  stride  they  have  now  taken  in  the  march  of  the 
world's  civilization,  and  her  people  will  so  devoutly  reverence 
the  greatness  of  their  country,  that  no  dissensions  will  be 
permitted  to  jeopardize  its  prosperity  and  growth. 

The  preceding  general  statement  is  but  an  epitome  of  the 
voluminous  reports  that  have  been  made  and  the  facts  and 
arguments  that  have  been  given  during  the  last  three  centu- 
ries, urging  individuals  and  governments  to  undertake  the 
removal  of  this  barrier  to  commerce. 

Said  General  J.  G.  Barnard,  in  a  brief  review  of  this 
subject  several  years  ago:  "No  commercial,  agricultural  or 
speculative  problem  has  had  a  history  more  marked.  From 
the  era  of  the  Spanish  conquest  of  America,  the  search  for 
the  secret  of  the  supposed  natural  strait  was  carried  on  along 
the  coast  line  of  the  two  continents,  and  when  this  ceased, 
the  possibility  of  the  construction  of  an  artificial  route  began 
to  be  discussed.  During  the  last  fifty  years,  governments, 
companies  and  individuals  have  devoted  much  time  and 
money  to  the  search  for  a  practical  route  for  ships." 

Many  independent  surveys  on  different  lines  covering  nearly 
the  whole  length  of  the  American  Isthmus,  have  been  made 
during  the  last  sixty-five  years  and  embrace  particularly  the 
Panama,  Nicaragua  and  Tehuantepec  routes,  the  latter  being 
the  most  northern  and  more  than  twelve  hundred  miles  from 
the  Panama  route  measured  along  the  axis  of  the  Isthmus. 

The  facts  connected  with  the  attempt  to  cut  a  ship  canal 
through  the  Isthmus  at  Panama  below  the  sea  level,  are  too 
generally  known  to  be  referred  to  here,  except  to  say  that 


the  impracticability  of  constructing  the  work  for  any  sum  of 
money  commensurate  with  the  probable  revenue,  was  the 
reason  for  the  inception  of  the  Ship  Railway  and  for  a 
location  more  advantageous  to  commerce. 

The  location  of  the  proposed  Nicaragua  Canal,  lies  north  of 
Panama.  Very  elaborate  surveys  were  made  here  by 
the  United  States  Government,  and  a  concession  was 
granted  by  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  to  a  ship  canal  com- 
pany, but  the  terms  of  the  concession  not  having  been  com- 
plied with  it  has  recently  been  declared  forfeited  by  that 
government. 

At  Tehuantepec,  many  surveys  have  been  made  by  gov- 
ernments and  individuals,  looking  to  the  construction  of  an 
ordinary  railroad,  a  canal  with  locks  and  a  Ship  Railway. 
The  advantages  of  this  route  as  relates  to  commerce,  climate, 
construction  and  maintenance,  will  be  fully  given  under  the 
appropriate  subject.  It  is  only  necessary  now  to  support 
these  views  of  the  commercial  necessity  for  an  inter-oceanic 
communication  by  the  publicly  expressed  opinions  of  men 
capable  of  forming  a  correct  judgment. 

The  views  expressed  by  Secretary  Marcy,  Presidents 
Buchanan,  Hayes,  Garfield  and  Arthur,  and  Secretary  Fre- 
linghuysen,  all  confirm  the  opinions  advanced  that  this  com- 
mercial necessity  exists. 

One  of  the  most  far-seeing  statesmen  of  this  day  who 
comprehends  the  immense  commercial  advantages  to  be 
gained  by  establishing  an  inter-oceanic  communication 
between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  U.  S.  Senator  William 
Windom,  while  calling  attention  to  the  map  of  the  world 
in  the  Senate  Chamber,  in  1881,  used  the  following  expres- 
sive language  : — 

"  Bordering  upon  the  Gulf  on  the  north  lie  the  great  States 
"of  Texas,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama  and  Florida. 
44  North  of  these  lies  the  mighty  empire  drained  by  the  Mis- 
44sissippi  River,  while  to  the  east  are  the  Atlantic  States, 
44  stretching  from  Florida  to  Maine.  On  the  Pacific  are  the 
44  States  of  California,  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory,  and 
14  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  stretches  a  domain  whose 
"  magnificence  is  the  pride  of  every  American.  Obstructing, 


8 

"embarrassing  and  burdening  the  commerce  between  these 
"great  sections  of  the  Union,  lies  this  narrow  strip  of  land. 
*  To  avoid  it,  1,200,000  tons  of  wheat  raised  in  Cal- 
ifornia and  Oregon  last  year  are  compelled  to  seek  a  Euro- 
"  pean  market  by  a  costly  and  tedious  voyage  of  fourteen 
"thousand  miles  around  Cape  Horn.  Even  the  exchange  of 
"  productions  between  our  own  Atlantic  and  Pacific  States 
"  must  be  made  by  the  same  circuitous,  expensive  and  dan- 
"  gerous  route,  or  else  sustain  the  heavy  burdens  imposed  for 
"railway  transportation  across  the  continent.  The  com- 
"  merce  of  all  the  leading  nations  is  in  like  manner  obstructed 
"  and  burdened.  The  time  has  come  when  this  barrier  is  to 
44  be  removed.  The  wonder  is  that  it  has  been  permitted  to 
"  remain  so  long." 

Touching  on  some  of  the  commercial  results  to  be  gained 
by  a  crossing  of  the  American  isthmus  for  ships,  General 
Grant  stated  in  the  North  American  Review  in  1881:— 

"The  States  of  North  and  South  America,  lying  along  the 
"Pacific  furnish  in  large  abundance  those  commodities  which 
"  are  constantly  needed  in  the  markets  of  almost  every  country 
"  of  Europe.  Of  guano  and  nitre  the  trade  is  immense.  From 
"the  ports  of  Chili,  nearly  four  hundred  thousand  tons  of 
"freight  are  shipped  eastward  annually.  More  than  one 
"million  tons  of  grain  are  shipped  each  year  from  the  Pacific 
"States  and  Territories.  There  is,  no  doubt,  that  more  than 
"4,000,000  tons  of  merchandise  find  their  way  from  the  east 
"and  require  water  communication,  in  order  that  they  may 
"  be  shipped  economically  and  profitably,  and  this  is  mer- 
chandise to  which  railway  transportation  across  the  conti- 
"  nent  is  wholly  inapplicable." 

The  statesmen  of  Mexico  from  Hernando  Cortez  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  have  been  fully  aware  of  the  immense  benefit  to 
Mexico,  that  would  inevitably  result  from  an  inter-oceanic 
crossing  at  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec.  Cortez  himself 
sought  for  it,  and  when  his  examinations  showed  no  natural 
opening  through  the  mountains  at  the  level  of  the  sea  or  by 
the  rivers,  his  great  mind  looked  forward  into  the  distant 
future,  and  he  saw  in  imagination  what  is  soon  to  be  realized 
—a  commercial  Gateway  between  the  Oceans.  Believing  that 


9 

this  isthmus  would  certainly  become  the  route  for  commerce, 
he  purchased  extensive  tracts  of  land  for  his  posterity,  who 
still  possess  them,  and  through  which  the  Ship  Railway  route 
is  located  by  the  recent  surveys.  Three  centuries  have  pas- 
sed ;  Mexico  has  passed  through  fire  and  sword  to  reach  her 
present  position  among  the  nations.  During  all  these  years 
she  has  assisted  by  her  means  and  by  her  wise  counsel  and 
official  approval,  every  effort  made  to  surmount  the  obstacles. 
She  has,  by  her  own  able  engineers,  made  careful  surveys  for 
canals  and  railroads  ;  she  materially  assisted  by  her  means 
and  by  her  engineers  in  the  surveys  for  the  Ship  Railway,  and 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  parties,  that  distinguished  engineer, 
Don  Francisco  De  Garay,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  drainage  of 
the  valley  of  Mexico.  But  greater  than  all  other  aid  has  been 
the  earnest  support  of  the  greatest  statesman  of  the  Mexico 
of  to-day,  General  Porfirio  Diaz.  Grasping  the  situation, 
realizing  the  important  and  lasting  benefits  that  would  accrue 
to  Mexico,  he  cordially  and  earnestly  approved  the  proposi- 
tion of  Mr.  Eads  to  construct  a  Ship  Railway,  as  the  final  and 
complete  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  centuries,  and  affixed 
his  name  with  just  pride  to  the  official  document  that  con- 
ceded to  an  American  citizen  the  right  to  perform  this  great 
work. 

There  might  be  given  here  other  weighty  and  valuable 
opinions  from  able  men,  but  sufficient  art  given  to  show 
plainly  that  there  is  a  necessity  for  a  Ship  Railway  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec — a  necessity  that  affects  the  com- 
merce of  the  world  and  its  productions,  agricultural,  mineral 
and  manufacturing.  The  removal  of  this  obstruction  will  do 
as  much  towards  uniting  the  world  and  bringing  together  in 
bonds  of  union,  friendship  and  the  peaceful  arts  of  a  Christian 
civilization,  the  nations  of  the  wide  world,  as  any  scheme  of 
evangelization  and  civilization  ever  conceived.  Shorten  the 
distance  between  Christendom  and  heathendom,  and  the 
subtile  and  ennobling  influence  of  religion  will,  lik-e  the 
electric  cable,  unite  all  nations  in  the  brotherhood  of 
humanity.  When  this  thought  was  presented  to  a  prominent 
and  wealthy  railroad  president,  whose  life-long  desires 
go  out  to  all  the  world  for  its  christianization  and  civili- 


10 

zation,  he  said:  "I  have  not  considered  fully  the  prac- 
"  ticability  of  the  Ship  Railway,  but  such  a  project, 
"  contemplating  and,  if  successful,  surely  bringing  about 
"  such  important  results  in  the  grand  work  of  elevating  the 
"  human  race,  is  worthy  the  help  of  all  men."  To  prove  the 
sincerity  of  his  expression  he  subscribed  liberally  towards  the 
expenses  of  the  preliminary  work.  A  few  days  ago  he  saw 
the  Ship  Railway  Model,  which  presents  in  a  concrete  form  the 
methods  proposed  for  lifting  and  moving  vessels.  Looking  at 
the  miniature  steamship,  about  seven  feet  in  length,  standing 
on  the  railway  of  the  model,  he  said  to  Mr.  Eads,  with  intense 
earnestness  :  "I  actually  see  that  steamship  moving  through 
"the  tropical  forests  of  Tehuantepec,  on  its  journey  from 
"ocean  to  ocean.  I  now  am  firmly  convinced  of  its  prac- 
"  ticability,  and  will  double  my  subscription." 

Closing  an  elaborate  and  accurate  description  of  this 
model,  the  London  Times  of  August  1st,  1884,  says  : 

"  Looking  at  the  Ship  Railway  project  from  a  broad  and 
44  general  point  of  view,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  is 
44  one  which  is  fraught  with  great  results.  This  will  be 
44  better  realized  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  American 
"  Isthmus  separates  about  100,000,000  of  the  most  enter- 
44  prising,  industrious  amd  enlightened  people  on  the  face  of 
"  the  earth,  inhabiting  the  North  Atlantic  coasts  of  Europe 
44  and  America,  from  600,000,000  who  inhabit  the  Orient  and 
44  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific.  It  is  true  that  the  sailing 
44  distances  which  separate  England  from  India,  China  and 
44  other  Oriental  countries,  have  been  greatly  reduced  by  the 
"  Suez  Canal  ;  but  these  distances  are  almost  insignificant 
44  when  compared  with  those  which  the  Ship  Railway  would 
"•  annihilate.  For  instance,  the  great  saving  effected  by  the 
44  Suez  Canal  between  London  and  Calcutta,  is  about  4,500 
"  statute  miles,  whereas  the  sailing  distance  by  the  Ship 
44  Railway  from  London  to  every  port  on  the  Pacific  coast  of 
44  North  America,  will  be  lessened  by  nearly  twice  this  great 
44  distance  or  about  8,250  miles.  The  Suez  Canal  brought 
44  London  and  Canton  about  3,500  miles  nearer  together  by 
44  sea.  The  Ship  Railway  would  save  more  than  three  times 
44  that  distance  between  the  great  American  metropolis  and 


11 

"  every  port  in  British  Columbia.  The  American  Isthmus 
"  and  the  Cordilleras  of  North  America  constitute  a  narrow 
"  but  almost  impassable  barrier  to  the  interchange  of  the 
M  manufactures  and  productions  of  40,000,000  of  people  in 
"  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  Atlantic  States,  not  only 
"  with  those  of  10,000,000  of  their  countrymen  to  the  west  of 
"  them,  but  with  others  on  the  islands  and  coasts  of  the 
"  Pacific  who  are  seemingly  their  nearest  neighbors.  The 
"  Ship  Railway  would  give  to  these  descendants  of  the 
"  British  Isles,  a  sea  route  between  their  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
"  ports  scarcely  a  thousand  miles  longer  than  the  railway 
"  between  New  York  and  San  Francisco,  and  it  would  give 
"  to  the  vast  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  a  gateway  equivalent 
"  to  the  discharge  of  its  mighty  river  directly  into  the 
"  Pacific." 

SECOND. 
PRACTICABILITY. 

It  has  been  truly  said,  that  all  new  ideas  and  enterprises 
must  pass  through  three  stages  before  reaching  complete 
recognition,  or  realization,  viz  : — ridicule,  possibility  and 
probability.  This  has  been  the  history  of  all  newly  discov- 
ered truths  and  of  all  new  ideas  carried  into  actual  practice. 
This  is  notably  seen  in  the  successful  realization  of  agricul- 
tural, astronomical,  dynamic  and  electric  principles  and  ideas. 
The  world  is  round  and  revolves;  the  stars  in  the  vault  of 
heaven  are  other  worlds  ;  the  force  of  steam  drives  the 
locomotive  and  gives  it  power  and  speed;  the  electric  wires 
are  spun  through  the  valleys  and  over  the  mountains,  flashing 
thoughts  from  mind  to  mind,  and  under  the  waters  of  the  sea 
the  Atlantic  cables  interchange  in  a  moment  the  thoughts  of 
the  continents  ;  and  yet  each  one  of  these  ideas  was  once 
scouted  as  untrue  or  impracticable  and  its  teachers  and  ad- 
vocates were  looked  upon  as  the  veriest  visionaries. 

The  proposition  of  Mr.  James  B.  Eads,  to  transport  large 
vessels  overland  across  the  American  Isthmus,  has,  in  the 
minds  of  thinking  men  and  of  experts  whose  attention  has 
been  given  to  it,  passed  through  the  two  preliminary  stages — 


12 

ridicule  and  possibility — and  is  now  in  the  stage  of  probability. 
Nothing  is  required  to  advance  it  to  the  stage  of  certainty 
and  of  complete  realization  but  the  necessary  means  for  doing 
the  mechanical  work  and  constructing  a  roadway  for  the 
ingeniously  designed  carriage  for  transporting  vessels. 

The  obstacles  to  be  overcome  by  mechanical  ingenuity 
were,  first,  the  distribution  of  weight  so  that  the  parts  of  the 
carriage,  and  particularly  the  wheels,  should  not  be  unduly 
loaded,  and  second,  the  adaptation  of  the  carriage  to  the 
ship,  so  as  not,  in  any  possible  manner,  to  injure  the  hull 
or  strain  any  part  of  it  beyond  what  it  was  designed  to 
bear  on  the  ocean.  Principles  and  appliances  long  known 
and  employed  in  lifting  and  moving  vessels  are  used, 
with  some  special  adaptations  only,  to  enable  them  to  be 
transported  with  greater  speed  than  they  are  usually  moved 
on  inclined  railways. 

The  history  of  vessel  moving  and  transporting  overland  is 
ancient.  The  Athenians,  centuries  before  the  Christian  era, 
transported  their  war  ships,  of  probably  one  hundred  and  fifty 
tons,  across  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth,  about  fourteen  miles. 
Loaded  canal  boats  and  other  vessels  of  considerable  tonnage 
have  been  hauled  on  carriages  overland  on  railways  and  over 
long  distances  up  and  down  steep  gradients. 

In  the  lifting  of  vessels  from  the  water  to  a  higher  level, 
three  methods  were  found  practicable  and  in  use  in  various 
parts  of  the  world.  First  by  an  inclined  railway,  second  by  a 
positive  hydraulic  lift  with  presses  or  rams,  and  third  by  a 
floating  pontoon  or  caisson  Although  the  original  plans  con- 
templated the  use  of  the  inclined  railway,  the  idea  was  aban- 
doned for  several  reasons,  especially  as  it  would  require  a 
railway  extending  under  water  a  long  distance  into  the  sea, 
where  it  would  be  difficult  to  maintain  the  track  intact;  it 
would  also  be  much  more  expensive  than  other  methods.  Re- 
sponsible parties  were  found  who  lifted  loaded  vessels,  up  to 
twelve  thousand  tons  weight,  by  a  vertical  hydraulic  lift,  and 
who  agreed  to  construct  a  dock  of  this  kind  that  would  lift  a 
vessel  weighing  ten  thousand  tons,  on  a  carriage  suitable  for 
transportation  over  land,  to  a  height  of  forty-six  feet  and 
place  the  vessel  and  carriage  upon  the  railway,  all  in  thirty 


13 

minutes  time.  They  proposed  also  to  build  locomotives 
that  would  haul  these  loads  over  ordinary  grades.  How- 
ever, after  mature  consideration  of  the  detailed  plans  and 
estimates  of  cost,  it  was  decided  to  lift  the  vessels  by  pon- 
toons or  floating  docks,  the  ordinary  method  in  use  in 
all  commercial  countries.  The  comparatively  rude  methods 
of  docking  and  adjusting  loaded  vessels  on  a  floating 
dock  require  modification,  as  it  is  necessary  not  only  to  lift 
the  vessel  on  the  pontoon,  but  to  place  her  on  a  carriage  with 
her  weight  so  equalized  from  stem  to  stern  as  to  enable  the 
carriage  to  move  easily  and  safely.  This  distribution  of 
weight  and  transfer  of  the  distributed  weight  to  the  car- 
riage is  effected  as  follows: — The  pontoon  is  capable  of  rais- 
ing easily  a  vessel  of  five  thousand  tons  gross  weight,  this 
being  as  large  as  the  Isthmian  business  will  employ,  for  the 
present  at  least.  The  size  of  the  pontoon  is  about  450  feet 
long,  75  feet  wide  and  15  feet  deep,  arranged  with  a  system 
of  hydraulic  rams  placed  on  an  intermediate  deck  about  six 
feet  below  the  upper  deck  of  the  pontoon.  These  rams  are 
arranged  in  lateral  and  longitudinal  lines,  the  former  being 
placed  a  little  less  than  seven  feet  apart.  The  area  of  the 
combined  rams  in  each  lateral  line  is  the  same — for  example, 
the  area  of  the  one  ram  under  the  keel  at  the  bow  or  stern  is 
equal  to  the  area  of  the  five  or  seven  rams  amidships.  These 
rams  are,  or  can  be,  all  connected  together,  so  that  the  same 
pressure  per  square  inch  of  surface  of  the  rams,  exists  through- 
out the  whole  system,  or  they  can  be  disconnected  by  valves- 
so  that  a  greater  pressure  can  be  bro*ught  upon  the  rams  in  a 
certain  section  or  on  a  certain  line.  These  rams  are  not  in- 
tended to  lift  the  vessel,  but  simply  to  resist  its  weight  when 
it  comes  up  out  of  the  water.  They  are  actuated  by  a  power- 
ful hydraulic  pump,  erected  on  a  tower  attached  to  the  side  of 
the  pontoon  and  rising  and  sinking  with  it,  but  of  sufficient 
height  above  it  to  not  become  submerged  when  the  pontoon 
is  grounded  on  the  bottom  of  the  basin  or  dock.  The  pon- 
toon is  guided  in  its  upward  or  downward  movement  by  strong 
anchor  rods,  or  columns,  passing  through  it  freely,  and  firmly 
secured  in  the  foundations  of  the  dock. 

The  carriage  for  supporting  and  moving  the  vessel    will  be 


14 

arranged  to  move  on  six  rails — three  standard  gauge  tracks 
each  of  4  feet  S}4  inches.  As  the  ship  is  itself  a  girder,  fore 
and  aft,  and  will  not  be  bent  in  that  direction  on  an  immov- 
able roadway,  the  maximum  strength  of  the  carriage  is  in  the 
cross  girders  which  are  spaced  like  the  lateral  lines  of  the 
rams,  about  seven  feet  apart,  and  are  of  sufficient  depth  and 
have  sufficient  material  in  their  plates  to  transfer  equal  loads 
to  all  the  wheels.  The  wheels  are  double  flanged,  placed  as 
near  together  as  is  necessary  to  distribute  the  weight  and  are 
each  hung  independently  to  its  own  journals,  with  an  inde- 
pendent axle  for  each  wheel.  The  system  of  trucks,  of  four  or 
six  wheels,  movable  about  a  central  pin,  on  which  cars  are 
supported  on  an  ordinary  railroad,  is  not  required  in  the  ship 
railway  carriage,  as  it  is  intended  to  move  the  loads  on  straight 
lines,  curves  not  being  admissible  in  a  rigid  carriage  of  such 
great  length.  Over  each  wheel  is  a  powerful  spring  which  will 
bear  twenty  or  more  tons  before  closing.  It  has  a  vertical 
movement  of  about  six  inches.  The  maximum  load  on  a  level 
track  will  not  close  these  springs  more  than  three  inches,  thus 
permitting  the  carriage  to  pass  over  any  irregularities  which 
might  occur,  without  bringing  any  undue  weight  upon  the 
wheels.  They  also  furnish  a  complete  elastic  bearing  for  the 
loaded  vessel,  and  will  permit  it  to  move  on  the  carriage  easily 
over  the  railway  without  any  possibility  of  jar  or  strain.  Upon 
the  model  is  arranged  a  system  of  supports  for  the  vessel 
with  adjustable  surfaces  hinged  to  the  top  of  th,e  supports  by 
a  toggle  joint,  so  as  to  fit  the  shape  of  the  hull  at  every 
point.  The  supports  on  the  outside  line  are  fitted  with  adjust- 
able hinged  girths  covered  with  a  rubber  or  other  cushioned 
surface.  These  supports,  or  rods,  or  columns,  pass  through  the 
girders  of  the  carriage  freely  and  are  exactly  pendant  over 
the  hydraulic  rams  when  the  carriage  is  on  the  pontoon,  lock- 
ed in  proper  and  exact  position.  The  carriage  having  been 
run  on  the  pontoon,  when  it  is  floating,  and  the  surface  of 
its  rails  exactly  corresponding  with  the  rails  of  the  perma- 
nent way  on  shore,  the  water  is  let  into  the  compartments  of 
the  pontoon  and  it,  with  the  carriage,  is  sunk  to  the  bottom 
and  grounded  on  the  cross  bearers  of  the  dock.  The  ship 
is  then  brought  from  the  exterior  basin  into  the  dock  over 


15 

the  carriage,  and  so  adjusted  that  her  keel  is  exactly  over 
the  continuous  keel  block  of  the  carriage,  and  her  centre  of 
gravity,  as  near  as  possible,  over  the  central  point  in  the  length 
of  the  carriage.  The  water  is  then  pumped  out  of  the  pontoon 
by  a  powerful  centrifugal  pump  and  it  rises  towards  the  hull  of 
the  vessel.  When  the  keel  block  of  the  carriage  is  about  two 
feet  from  the  keel  of  the  vessel,  the  hydraulic  pump  is  started, 
pushing  up  the  pendant  rods  and  posts  of  the  supports 
gently  against  the  vessel,  under  the  keel,  bottom  and 
bilges,  and  snugly  up  around  the  sides.  As, the  vessel  con- 
tinues to  rise  and  her  weight  increases,  the  pressure  upon 
the  rams  increases,  but  the  water  pressure  under  them  being 
prevented  from  escaping  by  closing  the  valves,  the  full 
weight  of  the  vessel,  when  she  is  entirely  out  of  the  water,  is 
borne  on  the  rams  ;  they  having  conformed  their  movement 
to  the  shape  of  the  vessel. 

Assuming,  for  illustration,  that  there  are  fifty  lines  of 
rams  and  that  the  ship  weighs  five  thousand  'tons,  then  each 
line  of  rams  will  have  imposed  upon  it  a  weight  of  one  hun- 
dred tons,  no  more  and  no  less.  As  these  lines  of  rams  are 
spaced  equally  from  stem  to  stern,  and  each  upholds  a 
weight  of  one  hundred  tons,  then  the  weight  of  the  ship 
must  be  borne  equally  each  unit  of  its  length.  The  pressure 
gauge  on  the  hydraulic  pump  will  indicate  the  exact  weight 
or  displacement  of  the  vessel,  and  may  form  the  basis  for 
ascertaining  the  charge  for  transporting  her.  When  the  ship  is 
entirely  out  of  the  water,  hand  wheels,  or  adjusting  nuts, 
moving  in  threads  cut  in  the  columns  of  the  supports,  are 
run  down  by  the  workmen  to  a  bearing  on  the  girder  plates  ; 
the  rams  are  then  withdrawn  by  opening  the  valve  and 
the  girders  support  the  evenly  distributed  weight  of  the 
vessel.  As  an  equal  number  of  wheels  are  placed  with  each 
girder,  and  each  girder,  by  the  arrangement  just  mentioned, 
upholds  its  exact  proportion  of  the  load,  then  all  the  wheels, 
from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  carriage,  must  have  equal 
weights  imposed  upon  them — that  is,  not  over  eight  or  nine 
tons,  which  is  an  admissible  load,  since  much  larger  weights 
are  carried  upon  the  wheels  of  ordinary  locomotives  and 
other  rolling  stock,  both  in  the  United  States  and  Europe. 
Each  wheel  will  be  tested  to  twenty  tons. 


16 

The  adjustable  supports  of  the  carriage  can  be  made  to  fit 
neatly  and  bear  evenly  upon  any  vessel  that  ranges  in  beam 
between  certain  limits,  and  for  smaller  or  larger  vessels 
than  these  limits,  different  sizes  of  carriages  will  be  con- 
structed, with  a  modification  of  the  lines  of  the  supports. 

It  will  not  always  be  possible  to  place  a  vessel,  when 
brought  into  the  dock,  immediately  over  the  exact  centre  of 
the  pontoon  ;  the  result  will  be  that  when  the  weight  of  the 
vessel  is  brought  on  the  pontoon,  one  end  will  have  a  ten- 
dency to  sink  and  the  other  to  rise.  This  is  overcome,  and 
the  pontoon  balanced  by  hydrostatic  pressure  in  what  are 
called  "hydraulic  governors,"  as  follows  : — Two  cylinders  are 
attached  to  each  corner  of  the  dock,  one  being  upright  and 
the  other  inverted.  Plungers,  attached  to  the  pontoon,  move 
in  them.  The  cylinders  on  diagonal  corners  are  connected  by 
pipes,  and  all  spaces  in  the  cylinders  and  pipes  are  filled  solid 
with  water.  As  the  pontoon  rises,  the  water  forced  out 
of  one  cylinder  .by  the  ascending  plunger  is  forced  into  the 
inverted  cylinder  on  the  diagonal  corner  where  the  plunger  is 
being  withdrawn.  Now,  if  there  is,  say  one  hundred  tons 
preponderance  on  one  end  of  the  pontoon,  one  half  this  weight, 
or  fifty  tons  pressure,  will  be  exerted  by  each  plunger  on  that 
end  upon  the  water  in  its  cylinder.  This  pressure  is  instan- 
taneously transmitted  through  the  pipes  to  the  water  in  the 
top  of  the  upright  cylinder  on  the  diagonal  corner,  which 
acts  with  the  same  amount  of  pressure,  as  a  water 
plunger,  upon  the  metal  plunger  to  hold  it  down  ;  thus  an 
equilibrium  is  maintained  and  the  pontoon  compelled  to  rise 
and  fall  perfectly  level. 

It  is  possible  by  the  aid  of  a  pressure  gauge  attached  to  the 
pipes  to  ascertain  the  exact  amount  of  the  excess  of  weight, 
so  that  should  this  gauge  show  too  great  a  preponderance, 
the  pontoon  must  be  lowered  and  the  ship  placed  in 
a  new  position.  When  the  pontoon  has  risen  so  that 
the  surfaces  of  the  rails  laid  upon  it  are  exactly  level 
with  those  of  the  railway,  it  is  prevented  from  rising  further 
by  the  heads  of  the  anchor  bolts,  or  guiding  rods,  which  are 
also  sufficiently  strong  to  prevent  one  end  of  the  pontoon 
rising,  when  the  carriage,  with  the  vessel  upon  it  is  being 
run  off.  In  practice  these  anchor  rods  will  be  large  hollow 


17 

cylindrical  columns  filled  with  heavy  material  to  give  them 
weight. 

The  railway  will  be  built  on  practically  straight  lines,  a 
curve  of  less  than  twenty  miles  radius  not  being  admissi- 
ble, with  a  rigid  carriage  four  hundred  feet  in  length. 
There  are,  however,  five  points  on  the  isthmus,  as  located  by 
the  surveys,  where  it  will  be  necessary  to  make  quite  abrupt 
changes  in  direction  in  order  to  avoid  heavy  construction 
work.  The  railway  in  this  section  of  the  country,  on  the 
table  lands,  follows  a  succession  of  broad  valleys  flanked  by 
ranges  of  hills  or  spurs  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  and  to 
pass  from  one  valley  to  another,  or  from  one  plain  to  an- 
other, it  is  necessary  to  make  deflections  where  there  is  not 
sufficient  open  country  to  use  curves  of  the  radius  named.  At 
these  five  points,  the  changes  in  direction  are  made  by  float- 
ing turntables,  which  are  no  more  nor  less  than  floating  pon- 
toons large  enough  to  take  the  carriage  with  the  ship  and 
float  it  about  a  central  pivot,  or  cylinder.  The  pontoon, 
when  the  carriage  with  the  vessel  is  run  upon  it,  is  solidly 
grounded,  by  the  weight  of  water  in  it,  upon  the  circular  bear- 
ers in  the  basin.  The  carriage  is  placed  on  the  centre  of 
the  pontoon  and  the  water  is  pumped  out  by  means  of  a 
powerful  centrifugal  pump,  withdrawing  the  water  through 
an  opening  in  the  cylindrical  pivot  of  the  pontoon  and 
discharging  it  into  the  basin.  When  sufficient  flotation  has 
been  given  to  the  pontoon  by  this  means  to  slightly  raise  it 
from  its  bearing  surfaces,  it  is  moved  about  the  pivot  by 
steam  power  in  the  direction  required  ;  the  water  is  then 
admitted  to  it  through  valves,  and  it  is  grounded  again  upon 
the  bearers  in  the  basin.  The  locomotives  then  move  the 
vessel  in  the  new  direction.  These  turntables,  or  pontoons, 
by  laying  several  radial  tracks,  can  be  utilized  for  passing 
points  and  also  for  standing  vessels,  for  painting,  or  repairs, 
if  desired.  The  simplicity  and  economy  of  this  method 
of  turning  vessels  is  particularly  noted  by  those  who  have 
seen  the  working  model  illustrating  it.  No  adjustments  are 
required,  and  the  level  of  the  pontoon,  when  floating,  can  be 
very  easily  secured  by  admitting  water  into  one  or  more  com- 
partments at  either  end  of  it.  As  the  weight  of  the  vessel 


18 

is  equalized  over  the  whole  length  of  the  carriage  the  central 
point  of  the  carriage  cannot  be  far  from  the  centre  of  gravity 
of  the,  load. 

The  motive  power  for  hauling  the  vessels  over  the  railway 
will  not  be  difficult  to  design  or  build  ;  it  is  simply  a  question 
of  amount  of  power.  We  know  that  loads  up  to  two  thousand 
tons  are  now  hauled  on  ordinary  railways  by  the  freight  en- 
gines of  the  day..  If  one  of  these  engines  will  haul  a  train 
of  half  a  mile  in  length  over  the  grades  and  around  the 
curves  of  our  railways  at  a  rate  of  speed  of  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  miles  per  hour,  will  any  one  question  the  ability  of 
locomotives  especially  designed  and  of  great  traction  power, 
to  move  easily  a  compact  mass  on  three  straight  tracks  with 
the  opportunity  of  attaching,  if  necessary,  three  engines  in 
front  and  three  in  the  rear  of  the  carriage  ? 

In  reference  to  the  above  description  it  should  be  stated, 
that  the  working  plans  of  full-sized  works — pontoon,  car- 
riage and  floating  turntable,  have  been  reduced  in  scale  to  the 
size  of  a  working  model  which,  when  the  parts  are  connected, 
is  about  thirty  feet  in  length,  with  a  perfect  modeled  steamer 
about  7^  feet  long.  This  working  model  will,  if  thoroughly 
examined  and  its  principles  understood,  dissipate  any  preju- 
dice that  exists  against  the  practicability  of  the  ship  railway, 
and  convince  any  fair  minded  person  that  it  is  perfectly 
practicable  to  lift  and  transfer  vessels  with  their  cargoes  on 
board,  in  such  a  manner  as,  in  no  wise,  to  injure  any 
seaworthy  vessel,  or  the  integrity  of  the  carriage  upon  which 
it  is  transported.  Over  one  thousand  scientific  and  practical 
men  in  London  saw  this  model  ;  they  were  the  representa- 
tives of  the  civil  and  mechanical  engineers,  ship  builders, 
ship  owners,  dock  builders,  capitalists  and  commercial  men. 
The  universally  expressed  opinion  was  cordially  in  favor  of 
the  entire  practicability  of  the  Ship  Railway.  In  the  city  of 
New  York  at  this  writing,  over  seven  thousand  people  have 
witnessed  the  movements  and  action  of  this  model  ;  many 
were  from  the  same  classes  as  in  London,  and  their  expressed 
verdict  has  been  the  same.  However,  as  this  model  can  be 
seen  by  only  .a  few  persons,  the  objections  which  may  be 


19 

brought  forward  by  those  not  perfectly  familiar  with  the 
methods  proposed,  will  be  briefly  stated  and  answered. 

First  objection  :  Injury  to  the  vessel  by  the  outward 
pressure  of  the  cargo  when  she  is  taken  out  of  the  water. 

Answer  :  When  the  vessel  is  in,  what  is  called,  its  <l  natural " 
element,  she  undergoes,  often,  unnatural  and  more  severe 
strains  than  in  docking.  The  sudden  withdrawal  of  the 
water  pressure  when  the  vessel  in  a  heavy  sea  rides,  bow  and 
stern,  on  two  huge  waves,  would  cause  her  sides  to  burst  out  if 
she  were  not  specially  constructed  to  withstand  just  such  pres- 
sure. A  heavy  sea,  rolling  its  great  waves  one  after  another 
alongside  the  vessel  from  bow  to  stern,  with  the  hollow  of 
the  waves  following  quickly,  would  seem  to  be  productive,  if 
any  possible  condition  could  be,  of  the  opening  of  the  vessel's 
sides.  The  fact  is,  the  bursting  pressure  is  less  than  is 
imagined.  Every  elevator  or  grain  cargo  box  is  more  likely 
to  be  pressed  outwards  or  downwards  by  its  load  of  grain, 
than  is  a  vessel's  sides  when  out  of  the  water. 

Second  objection  :  Injury  to  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  by 
supporting  it  by  artificial  means  when  the  cargo  is  on  board. 

Answer  :  It  should  be  clearly  understood  that  the  hy- 
draulic press  system,  which  first  holds  up  the  vessel  when 
she  is  out  of  the  water  is,  as  it  were,  so  many  columns  of  water 
under  the  vessel,  gently  and  effectually  equalizing  her  weight. 
If  in  the  process  of  raising,  the  support  raised  by  one  ram 
comes  in  contact  with  the  keel,  bottom,  bilges  or  sides  of  the 
vessel,  it  will  exert  no  pressure  until  all  the  other  rams  have 
reached  a  point  of  contact,  and  then  the  pressure  per  square 
inch  of  ram  surface  is  the  same  throughout  the  whole  system. 
The  rams  of  the  greatest  area  are  placed  under  the  keel  where 
the  load  is  the  greatest  and  the  vessel  most  able  to  withstand 
heavy  pressure.  Over  the  whole  surface  of  the  hull,  wherever 
it  has  any  bearing  upon  the  water,  the  full,  complete  and 
adjustable  system  of  supports  is  spread,  with  their  broad 
and  cushioned  surfaces.  Vessels  of  the  most  ancient  and 
decayed  skin  and  timbers,  if  seaworthy,  can  be  carried 
on  this  perfectly  equalized  system  of  supports,  and  be  in 
effect  water-borne.  In  reference  to  both  these  objections, 
Mr.  E.  A.  Fuertes,  Professor  in  the  Department  of  Civil 


20 

Engineering  of  Cornell  University,  N.  Y.,  gives  very  valu- 
able testimony  in  reference  to  some  examinations  he  made 
on  the  White  Star  line  steamer  "Germanic,"  on  the  voyage 
between  Liverpool  and  New  York.  These  examinations, 
made  while  the  vessel  was  moving  through  an  ordinary 
sea,  were  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  concave 
and  convex  flexures  of  the  steamer  in  the  direction  of  her 
length.  He  found  that  the  total  deflection  in  a  distance  of 
264  feet  was  13  inches,  or  6^  inches  above  and  below  the 
mean  line.  Comparing  the  effects  of  a  heavy  sea  upon  an 
iron  steamer  with  the  effects  upon  the  same  steamer,  when 
carried  upon  a  properly  designed  and  constructed  railway, 
he  speaks  of  the  strain  upon  the  vessel  when  a  sinking  or 
receding  sea  instantly  withdraws  the  volumes  of  water  pres- 
sure from  against  her  sides,  and  the  reaction  of  her  frame 
when,  with  equal  suddenness,  it  feels  the  pressure  of  her  cargo, 
if  any  such  pressure  exists. 

"  Also  the  sea  strikes  blows  with  concentrated  vigor  upon 
"  the  restricted  area  of  the  ship's  surface,  causing  the  dreaded 
"  tremor  from  stem  to  stern,  and  working  her  joints  and  tim- 
"  bers  with  all  kinds  of  flexures,  tortions  and  impacts.  Only 
"  those  who  have  had  personal  experience  with  the  sea  in  a 
"  hurricane  can  realize  the  stiffness  required  in  a  sea-going' 
"  vessel. 

"  It  is  strange  to  see  how  strongly  intolerant  popular  mis- 
"  conceptions  can  be  in  questions  of  this  kind.  While  a  ship 
"  must  be  constructed  so  that  it  may  stand  safely  on  end  or 
"  be  shaken  violently  when  held  in  the  middle  or  by  her  ex- 
"  tremities,  the  popular  prejudice  against  a  ship  railway  is 
"  based  upon  the  assumption  that  all  ships  are  wanting  in 
"  the  very  quality  that  they  must  possess,  viz  :  stiffness." 

The  following  statement  of  opinions  and  facts  upon  this 
subject  will  support  the  views  advanced  above.  A  letter, 
dated  February  I4th,  1882,  from  Mr.  William  S.  Buckley, 
President  of  the  New  York  Balance  Dock  Company,  gives  a 
list  of  five  ships  and  six  steamers,  ranging  from  about  2,000  to 
2,700  tons,  that  were  taken  out  on  his  dock  with  cargoes  in 
them.  In  this  letter  Mr.  Buckley  says  :  "  We  do  not  refuse 
"  any  class  of  ships  or  steamers,  even  with  coals  and  cargoes 


21 

"on  board,  whose  length  does  not  exceed  the  length  of  the 
"  dock.  In  every  case  in  which  we  have  taken  up  steamers 
"  with  the  cargoes  in,  it  has  been  done  without  the  least 
"  strain 'or  injury  to  the  vessel.  As  the  rule  is  to  make  a 
u  charge  for  raising  the  cargo  on  a  vessel,  they  usually  come 
44  to  us  without  cargo." 

Mr.  Edward  Hart,  U.  S.  Naval  Constructor,  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Eads,  says  (quoting  a  portion,  only,  appertaining  to  this 
subject)  : 

"  With  a  substantial  road-bed  for  your  Ship  Railway,  on  the 
"  easy  grades  across  Tehuantepec,  which  I  understand  do 
"  not  exeed.one  or  two  feet  in  the  hundred,  there  can  be  no 
44  mechanical  difficulty  in  the  way  of  transporting  loaded  ships 
44  by  railroad  with  entire  safety  to  the  vessels,  whether  they 
*'  be  built  of  wood  or  iron."  Mr.  Hart  is  one  of  the  oldest  and 
ablest  constructors  in  the  U.  S.  Navy. 

Mr.'H.  L.  Fernald,  a  Constructor  of  the  U.  S.  Navy  of  re- 
cognized ability  and  talent,  stated  in  a  letter  as  follows': 

"  Having  carefully  examined  the  plans  and  papers  per- 
44  taining  to  the  proposed  Ship  Railway  across  the  Isthmus  of 
44  Tehuantepec,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  in  my  judgment 
44  there  will  be  no  difficulty  whatever  in  transporting  in  the 
44  manner  you  propose  any  properly  built  vessel  with  absolute 
"  safety." 

The  London  Iron,  of  October  3d,  1884,  in  brief  but  com- 
prehensive language,  sets  at  rest  any  fears  that  may  exist  in 
the  minds  of  timorous  people  in  reference  to  the  injury  that 
vessels  may  sustain  by  being  docked  and  handled  with  the 
cargo  on  board  : 

'  The  question  of  endangering  the  structural  integrity  of  a  ship 
"  loaded  with  cargo  by  taking  her  out  of  the  water  and  placing  her 
"  on  intermediate  supports,  is  one  which  has  frequently  been  raised 
"  only  to  be  summarily  disposed  of  by  those  who  give  the  matter  a 
"  moment's  thought.  As,  however,  there  is  still  a  popular  notion 
"  that  a  loaded  vessel  under  such  conditions  is  subject  to  injurious 
"  strains,  it  may  be  as  well  if  we  point  out  how  utterly  impossible 
"  this  is  by  reason  of  the  construction  of  the  vessel  itself.  No  greater 
1  fallacy  than  this  was  ever  conceived,  for  there  is  no  form  of  struc- 


22 

"  ture  which  is  known  to  be  subject  to  more  unequal,  irregular  and 
"  ever-varying  strains  than  a  ship  at  sea,  and  these  very  points  are 
"  carefully  provided  against  in  her  design  and  construction.  A  prop- 
"  erly  designed  and  constructed  ship  resembles  a  girder,  and  is  so 
"  built  that  no  matter  how  she  may  be  tossed  about  on  the  waves, 
"  the  strains,  conflicting  and  almost  puzzling  as  they  are,  are  dis- 
"  tributed  equally  through  her  framing  and  plating  or  planking.  If 
u  there  was  any  fear  of  her  cargo  bursting  her  sides,  as  some  have 
"  held  there  is,  it  would  have  burst  them  on  her  first  loading,  as,  al- 
"  though  water  is  incompressible  in  confinement,  it  is  exceedingly 
"  yielding  when  unconfmed.  Hence  the  risk  of  damage  to  vessels 
"  by  straining  during  transport  overland,  may  at  once  be  set  aside  as 
"  puerile,  especially  in  the  face  of  the  ingenious  arrangement  de- 
"  signed  by  Mr.  Eads  for  equalising  their  support.  Moreover,  the 
"  raising  of  ships  with  their  cargoes,  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  level, 
"  by  means  of  hydraulic  lifts,  has  been  successfully  accomplished  for 
"  long  past.  The  Victoria  Docks,  in  London,  and  those  at  Malta 
"  and  Bombay,  have  been  operated  for  years  without  an  accident. 
"  Again,  it  is  a  matter  of  common  occurrence  to  keep  loaded  vessels 
"  for  days,  and  even  weeks,  upon  dry  docks  for  repairs,  and  then  re- 
"  turn  them  to  water  without  the  slightest  strain  or  injury." 

The  most  valuable  expert  testimony  that  has  been  given  on 
this  subject,  is  by  Sir  Edward  Reed,  K.  C.  B.,  late  Chief  Con- 
structor of  the  British  Navy.  The  testimony  was  given  be- 
fore the  Committee  on  Commerce  of  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate. The  following  quotations  are  from  his  testimony,  and 
bear  directly  on  this  special  subject  : 

"  I  have  no  hesitancy  in  saying  that  the  marine  ships  of  to- 
"  day  are  vastly  stronger  everywhere  than  they  were  half  a 
"  century  ago,  and  that  they  are  now,  as  a  rule,  perfectly  ca- 
"  pable  of  being  docked  in  dry  docks  with  their  cargoes  on 
"  board. 

"  I  would  like  to  say  first,  that  there  is  no  fear  whatever 
"  of  a  ship  undergoing  any  strain  in  the  process  of  lifting  out 
"  of  the  water  (as  would  be  necessary  in  case  of  a  ship  rail- 
"  way)  that  she  is  not  liable  to  at  present  in  ordinary  dock- 
"  ing. 

"  I  would  say  further,  that  I  am  quite  sure  that  the  pro- 
"  cesses  of  ordinary  docking,  as  carried  on  in  a  vast  number 


23 

"  of  private  establishments,  are  very  negligent  and  insuffi- 
"  cient  in  comparison  with  those  which  would  be  adopted  in 
"  case  of  the  hydraulic  lifts  connected  with  the  proposed  ship 
"  railway." 

In  reference  to  the  hydraulic  docks  at  Malta  he  gives  a 
list  of  several  vessels  docked  with  their  cargoes  on  board,  and 
states:  "I  would  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  although 
"ship  owners  were  at  first  afraid  of  docking  ships  in  that  way 
"  with  their  cargoes  on  board,  they  have  discovered  by  the 
"  experience  of  years  that  no  sort  of  injury  does  result, 
"  for  all  the  ships  that  are  in  the  Indian  trade  now  voluntarily 
"  employ  these  docks  and  go  upon  them  with  their  cargoes 
"on  board  for  the  purpose  of  getting  their  bottoms  cleaned 
"  and  coated  on  the  voyage,  instead  of  having  to  lie  in  a  more 
"  expensive  dock  in  London,  for  the  purpose." 

Mr.  William  Pierce,  sole  proprietor  of  the  John  Elder  & 
Company's  works,  Govan,  Glasgow,  and  who  built  the  "Ari- 
zona," the  "Elbe,"  and  the  "Alaska,"  and  others  of  the  finest 
steamers  afloat,  says  in  a  letter  :  "  I  am  of  the  opinion  from 
"  what  I  know  of  the  working  of  iron  floating  docks  that  I 
"  have  designed  and  built,  that  iron  steamers  of  4,000  to 
"  5,000  tons  displacement,  may  be  docked  loaded  with- 
"  out  any  injury  whatever." 

Commander  T.  D.  Wilson,  Chief  Constructor  of  the  U.  S. 
Navy,  states  as  follows:  "I  see  no  good  reason  why  any 
"  vessel  cannot  be  successfully  raised  and  transported  upon  a 
"  properly  constructed  railway,  with  a  grade  as  stated,  if 
"  reasonable  skill  and  care  are  used  in  the  work,  and  I  believe 
"  the  strain  she  will  be  subjected  to  will  be  inferior  to  those. 
"  which  ocean  steamers  are  constantly  exposed  to." 

Objections  of  various  kinds  have  been  raised  to  the  plan  of 
lifting  vessels  out  of  the  water,  and  transporting  them,  but  it 
is  useless  to  enter  into  any  further  argument  in  regard  to  it 
in  the  face  of  the  numerous  and  well  authenticated  facts 
which  go  to  show  that  vessels  are,  in  all  parts  of  the  world, 
very  frequently  docked  with  their  cargoes  on  board  without 
the  least  injury  to  the  vessel.  The  only  injury  that  can  pos- 
sibly happen  to  them  under  these  circumstances,  is  by  care- 


24 

less  handling  or  by  not  taking  precautions  against  the  strains 
that  might  possibly  be  engendered  in  lifting  the  vessel.  If  it 
is  once  admitted  that  the  vessel  can  be  docked  with  the 
cargo  on  board,  it  must  also  be  admitted  that  ships  can  be 
hauled  on  a  properly  designed  and  constructed  railway  car- 
riage without  injury. 

As  the  practicability  of  the  Ship  Railway  depends  in  a  mea- 
sure upon  the  character  of  the  country  where  it  is  to  be 
constructed  and  operated,  that  country  will  be  briefly  de- 
scribed from  facts  gathered  by  careful  surveys  and  detailed 
examinations  made  during  five  months  by  the  writer  himself, 
and  during  seventeen  months  by  an  able  and  skillful  corps  of 
civil  engineers. 

The  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  lies  immediately  north  (or  west) 
of  the  promontory  of  Yucatan.  It  is  the  narrowest  part  of  the 
Isthmus  in  Mexico.  A  line  drawn  from  the  terminus  of  the 
Ship  Railway  on  the  Gulf  to  the  terminus  on  the  Pacific,  is 
almost  due  north  and  south.  The  terminus  on  the  north  is 
on  the  banks  of  the  Coatzacoalcos  River  at  the  town  of  Mina- 
titlan,  situated  about  twenty-five  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
river.  This  is  a  broad  deep  river  and  requires  improvement 
by  artificial  means  at  only  one  point.  This  can  be  done  easily 
and  inexpensively  by  judiciously  constructed  dykes  or  wing 
dams.  At  the  mouth  of  the  river  is  a  bar,  formed  by  the  river's 
deposit,  and  which  it  is  designed  to  deepen  by  jetties  similar 
to  those  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River.  There  is  now 
about  fifteen  feet  depth  of  water  over  the  bar.  The  line  of  the 
railway  from  Minatitlan  follows  the  gently  ascending  Atlan- 
tic plains  over  firm,  unyielding  ground.  At  about  thirty-five 
miles  from  Minatitlan  the  railway  will  be  constructed  through 
a  gently  undulating  table  land,  and  then  will  follow  a  series  of 
broad  valleys  reaching  the  Tarifa  plains,  which  is  the  summit 
level,  726  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  descent  from 
that  point  to  the  Pacific  plains  requires  three  deflecting  turn- 
tables to  avoid  heavy  excavations  and  give  the  necessary  dis- 
tance required  to  preserve  an  uniformly  descending  grade  of 
one  per  cent.  From  the  base  of  the  mountains  to  the  Pacific 
terminus  the  line  extends  over  a  nearly  level  country.  The 
terminal  on  the  Pacific  side  is  a  matter  of  choice  simply, 


25 

two  good  locations  having  been  found — one  at  Salina  Cruz, 
and  the  other  on  one  of  the  Lagoons  or  Lakes.  The  climate 
is  salubrious  and  healthy.  It  needs  only  to  be  said  in 
support  of  this  statement  that  a  corps  of  several  unac- 
climated  young  men,  from  the  northern  portions  of  the 
United  States  went  to  the  Isthmus  just  before  the  rainy  sea- 
son commenced,  remained  there  through  it,  and  were  not  off 
duty  through  any  sickness  while  engaged  upon  the  work. 
Some  of  them  remained  seventeen  months.  Mr.  Deming  J. 
Thayer,  engineeer  in  charge,  recently  returned  from  the 
Isthmus,  states  in  his  report  : 

"  Hitherto  it  has  been  erroneously  supposed  that  engineer- 
"  ing  parties  could  not  remain  in  the  field  during  the  rainy 
"  season  ;  that  the  increase  in  hardships  would  result  in  sick- 
"  ness  among  the  men  employed,  and  this,  in  connection 
"  with  the  time  lost  when  rainy,  would  render  desirable  pro- 
*'  gress  impossible.  Our  experience  during  an  entire  and  un- 
*'  usually  hard  rainy  season,  disproves  this  supposition.  No 
"  sickness  showed  itself  among  the  assistants  or  men  ;  little 
"  or  no  time  was  lost,  and  progress  was  nearly  as  rapid  as 
"  during  the  dry  season." 

The  character  of  the  laborers  to  be  obtained  on  the  Isth- 
mus, from  the  people  residing  there,  is  exceptionally  good, 
especially  on  the  Pacific  slope,  which  is  inhabited  by  a  hardy 
and  industrious  race  of  agricultural  people.  From  eight 
thousand  to  ten  thousand  laborers  can  be  obtained  from 
among  them.  The  very  best  materials  for  the  construction 
of  the  Ship  Railway  can  be  found  on  the  Isthmus  in  conve- 
nient locations.  Many  varieties  of  timber,  very  durable  in 
character  and  suitable  for  either  temporary  or  permanent 
work  in  construction,  are  found  throughout  nearly  the  entire 
line.  Good  building  stone,  granite,  limestone,  sandstone, 
and  other  varieties  are  at  hand,  available  for  purposes  of 
construction.  The  direction  of  such  winds  as  are  prevalent 
coincides  very  nearly  with  the  line  of  the  railway.  The  very 
frail  construction  of  the  principal  portion  of  the  houses  on 
the  Isthmus,  covered  as  they  are  with  large  and  high  palm 
roofs,  extending  beyond,  and  generally  separate  from  their 
walls  ;  the  exposed  places  in  which  many  of  them  stand, 


26 

and  the  absence  of  any  evidence  of  injury  to  them,  is  proof 
that  very  strong  winds  are  unknown  on  the  Isthmus.  The 
whole  country  along  and  near  the  proposed  line  has  been 
covered  by  accurate  instrumental  surveys  under  the  direction 
of  experienced  engineers.  The  elaborate  and  extensive 
surveys  of  Mr.  Martin  Van  Brocklin,  Resident  Engineer,  have 
not  only  demonstrated  the  entire  practicability  of  the  con- 
struction of  a  railway  sufficiently  solid  to  carry  any  load  that 
could  possibly  be  imposed  upon  it  in  the  transportation  of 
the  largest  vessels,  but  have  also  made  it  possible  to  locate 
the  line  for  construction.  They  have  also  been  sufficiently 
detailed  to  admit  a  reliable  estimate  to  be  made  of  the  cost ; 
and  they  have  furnished  all  possible  information  needed 
as  to  materials  for  construction,  obstacles  to  be  met,  and 
the  means  of  overcoming  them. 

We  are  convinced,  therefore,  that  it  is  practicable  beyond 
any  doubt  to  construct  the  mechanical  appliances  for  lifting 
and  transporting  vessels  and  to  build  a  railway  sufficiently 
solid  and  permanent  to  carry  the  loads  at  any  desired  speed  ; 
all  without  injury  to  the  vessels  or  the  carnages  that  trans- 
port them. 

Among  a  large  number  of  experts,  practical  and  experi- 
enced men,  who  have  examined  the  physical  and  mechanical 
conditions  and  obstacles,  and  pronounced  the  work  practica- 
ble, we  will,  in  conclusion,  mention  but  a  few  of  those  whose 
decided  opinions  had  much  weight  with  the  Committee  of 
the  U.  S.  Senate,  and  which,  confirming  the  results  of  its 
own  examination,  led  it  to  report  unanimously  in  favor  of  the 
practicability  of  the  Ship  Railway.  Sir  Edward  J.  Reed,  late 
Chief  Constructor  of  the  British  Navy  (already  alluded  to) 
gave  most  forcible  and  convincing  testimony  before  this  com- 
mittee as  to  the  practicability  of  the  Ship  Railway,  and  fortified 
his  opinion  by  statements  of  facts  impossible  to  refute.  Mr. 
Nathaniel  Barnaby,  present  Chief  Constructor  of  the  British 
Navy,  stated  that  the  problem  of  carrying  loaded  ships  on  a 
railway  was  not  only  soluble,  but  that  the  solution  was  fairly 
indicated  in  the  plans  shown  him  by  Mr.  Eads.  Mr.  William 
John,  for  some  years  the  scientific  adviser  of  the  committee 
of  Lloyd's  Register,  stated  that  the  lifting  of  vessels  out  of 


27 

the  water  having  become  an  every  day  occurrence,  the  work 
of  placing  them  on  a  carriage  and  transporting  them  was  a 
simple  matter. 

Mr.  John  Fowler,  a  civil  engineer  of  Great  Britain,  of  wide 
reputation,  has  himself  proposed  and  designed  plans  for  trans- 
porting vessels  overland  from  one  level  to  another  at  the  first 
cataract  of  the  Nile.  Mr.  George  Fosbury  Lyster,  Engineer  in 
Chief  of  the  Liverpool  docks,  closes  a  decided  opinion  on  the 
subject  by  saying  :  "There  will,  in  my  judgment,  be  little  or 
"  no  difficulty  in  transporting  properly  constructed  ships 
"  from  sea  to  sea  with  entire  convenience  and  safety."  The 
firm  of  Emerson,  Murgotroyd  &  Co.,  who  constructed  the 
great  hydraulic  docks  at  Malta  and  Bombay,  agreed  with  Mr. 
Eads  that  they  would  lift  for  the  Tehuantepec  Ship  Railway 
loaded  ships  of  from  8,000  to  10,000  tons  ^veight  on  a  rail- 
way car  and  place  them  on  the  permanent  way  in  thirty 
minutes  ;  agreeing  also  to  build  the  car  and  locomotives 
and  ten  miles  of  the  railway,  and  to  guarantee  the  safe  trans- 
portation of  the  loaded  ships  over  the  railway. 

Messrs.  Leader  Williams  and  B.  Baker,  both  prominent 
civil  engineers  of  England  ;  Prof.  Elgar,  General  Manager 
of  Earls  Ship  Building  and  Engineering  Co.,  and  Mr.  Mar- 
tell  of  Lloyds,  have  added  important  testimony  to  the  entire 
practicability  of  the  Ship  Railway.  In  the  United  States, 
strong  supporting  opinions  from  able  men  have  not  been 
wanting.  Genenal  Q.  A.  Gillmore,  a  distinguished  engineer 
of  the  United  States,  says  in  a  letter  : 

"  In  my  judgment  the  construction  of  a  ship  railway  across 
"  the  Mexican  Isthmus,  in  general  accordance  with  your  plan, 
"  is  not  only  feasible  as  an  engineering  problem,  but  the  suc- 
"  cessful  maintenance  and  operation  of  such  a  road  is  entirely 
"  practicable  as  a  business  enterprise." 

Major  Charles  R.  Suter,  another  able  engineer  of  the 
United  States  Army,  says  :  "The  project  has  great  and  ob- 
"  vious  advantages  to  recommend  it  and,  from  an  engineering 
"  point  of  view,  it  is,  in  my  opinion,  perfectly  practicable." 

General  G.  T.  Beauregard,  Colonel  Henry  Flad,  Mr.  O. 
Chanute,  Mr.  T.  C.  Clarke,  Mr.  J.  J.  Williams  and  other  civil 


28 

engineers  of  high  reputation  in  the  United  States,  have  given 
favorable  and  decided  views  on  the  subject. 

After  canvassing  this  whole  subject  of  the  practicability  of 
the  Ship  Railway,  the  Senate  Committee  summed  up  the  evi- 
dence as  follows  : 

"The  testimony  upon  the  subject,  is  so  overwhelming  and 
"  conclusive  in  its  character,  that  the  committee  has  no  hesi- 
"  tation  in  reporting  that  the  construction  of  a  ship  railway, 
"  and  its  successful  operation,  are  entirely  practicable'' 

THIRD. 

ADVANTAGES. 

The  construction  and  operation  of  a  Ship  Railway  at 
Tehuantepec  havftig  been  shown  to  be  practicable,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  give  the  imagination  wings  to  see  the  poetic 
prophecy  of  the  poet  Wordsworth  transformed  into  reality, 
when  in  the  "  Highland  Broach  "  he  says  : 

"  Lo  !  ships,  from  seas  by  nature  barred, 
Mount  along  ways  by  man  prepared." 

We  may  safely  utter  the  prophecy,  not  poetical,  but  prac- 
tical, that  the  tall  masts  of  ocean  steamers  will,  as  in  a  pan- 
orama, pass  among  the  palms  of  the  plains  of  Tarifa,  in  their 
journey  from  ocean  to  ocean. 

For  many  years,  not  only  have  the  leading  statesmen  of 
Mexico  appreciated  the  advantages  of  the  Tehuantepec  route 
for  an  inter-oceanic  crossing,  but  the  statesmen  of  the  United 
States  have  been  impressed  with  the  importance  of  these  ad- 
vantages. 

Daniel  Webster,  while  Secretary  of  State,  in  1851,  said  in 
an  official  letter  :  "  No  one  can  fail  to  see  how  exceedingly 
"  important  this  communication  would  be  to  the  Government 
"  of  Mexico.  It  proposes  to  give  her  a  practical  highway 
"  from  sea  to  sea.  It  opens  to  her  a  communication  on  the 
"  one  side  and  on  the  other  with  the  eastern  and  western 
"  world.  It  gives  her  access  to  the  markets  of  all  nations,  and 
"  makes  her,  in  short,  the  central  point  of  the  commerce  of 
M  modern  times." 


29 

Said  that  illustrious  statesman,  Lewis  Cass,  in  an  official 
letter  while  Secretary  of  State,  in  1857  :  "  The  proximity  of 
"  the  isthmus  to  our  shores,  the  salubrity  of  the  climate, 
"  the  adaptness  of  the  ground  for  the  construction  of  the 
"  railroad,  and  the  great  diminution  of  distance  in  comparison 
"  with  traveled  routes  between  our  Atlantic  and  Pacific  pos- 
"  sessions,  all  conspire  to  point  it  out  as  far  preferable  to  any 
"  other  route." 

Commodore  Shufeldt,  in  1871,  in  an  official  report  of  his 
survey  of  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  said  :  "  Each  isthmus 
"  rises  into  importance  as  it  lies  nearer  to  the  centre  of  Amer- 
"  ican  commercial  interests  ;  and  the  intrinsic  value  of  this 
"  eminently  national  work  ought  to  be  based  upon  the  inverse 
"  ratio  of  the  distance  from  that  centre." 

An  inter-oceanic  crossing,  according  to  his  report,  would 
be  an  extension  of  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
which  would  convert  the  Gulf  into  an  American  lake,  and,  so 
to  speak,  render  our  own  territory  circumnavigable  ;  and  the 
character  of  the  intervening  water  is  such,  that  it  would  per- 
mit a  canal  boat  to  load  at  St.  Louis  and  discharge  her  freight 
in  California  with  but  little  more  than  the  risk  of  inland  nav- 
igation. 

That  great  geographer,  known  the  world  over  for  the  results- 
of  his  patient,  long-continued  studi-es  of  ocean  currents,  Lieut. 
Maury,  whose  eloquence  is  only  exceeded  by  the  correctness 
and  breadth  of  his  opinions,  once  said  of  this  American  inland 
sea,  from  which  it  is  proposed  to  transport  vessels  to  the  Pa- 
cific :  *'  From  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  great  commercial  mar-- 
"  kets  of  the  world  are  down-hill.  A  vessel  bound  from  that 
"  gulf  to  Europe  places  herself  in  the  current  of  the  Gulf  Stream 
"  and  drifts  along  with  it  at  the  rate,  for  part  of  the  way,  of 
"  eighty  or  one  hundred  miles  a  day.  And 

"  when  there  shall  be  established  a  commercial  thoroughfare 
"  across  the  isthmus,  the  trade  winds  of  the  Pacific  will  place 
"  China,  India,  New  Holland  and  all  the  islands  of  that  ocean 
44  down-hill  from  this  sea  of  ours.  In  that  case,  Europe  must 
"  pass  by  our  very  doors  on  the  great  highway  to  the  markets 
"  both  of  the  East  and  West  Indies.  This  beautiful  Mesopo- 


30 

"  tamian  sea  is  in  a  position  to  occupy  the  summit  level  of 
"  navigation  and  to  become  the  great  commercial  receptacle 
"  of  the  world.  Our  rivers  run  into  it,  and  float  down  with 
'"  their  currents  the  surplus  articles  of  merchandise  that  are 
"  produced  upon  their  banks.  Arrived  with  them  upon  the 
"  bosom  of  this  grand  marine  basin,  there  are  the  currents  of 
"  the  sea  and  the  winds  of  heaven,  so  arranged  by  nature  that 
"  they  drift  it  and  waft  it  down-hill  and  down  stream  to  the 
"  great  market-places  of  the  world.  *  *  *  The  area  of 
"  all  the  valleys  which  are  drained  by  the  rivers  of  Europe 
"  that  empty  into  the  Atlantic  ;  of  all  the  valleys  that  are 
"  drained  by  the  rivers  of  Asia,  which  empty  into  the  In- 
"  dian  Ocean,  and  of  all  the  valleys  that  are  drained  by  the 
"  rivers  of  Africa  and  Europe  which  empty  into  the  Med- 
11  iterranean,  does  not  cover  an  extent  of  territory  as  great  as 
"  that  included  in  the  valleys  drained  by  the  American  rivers 
"  alone  which  discharge  themselves  into  our  central  sea. 
"  Never  was  there  such  a  concentration  upon  any  sea,  of  com- 
"  mercial  resources  ;  never  was  there  a  sea  known  with  such 
"  a  back  country  tributary  to  it," 

The  advantages  to  be  gained  are  so  great,  the  benefits  to 
commerce  and  the  world  are  so  important,  that  they  will 
sooner  or  later  impress  themselves  so  deeply  in  the  -minds  of 
this  impatient  generation,  that  nothing  but  a  realized  inter- 
oceanic  communication  for  ships  will  in  any  way  satisfy  it. 
When  we  contemplate  the  changes  that  will  certainly  take 
place  in,  not  only  commerce,  but  agriculture  and  manufac- 
tures, and  further  still,  in  the  general  development  of  the 
nations  by  the  immense  reduction  in  the  distances  that  now 
lie  between  them,  the  most  sanguine  cannot  comprehend  these 
grand  and  forever  increasing  benefits.  The  map  of  the  world 
shows  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  to  lie  midway  in  almost 
•direct  lines  from  the  whole  eastern  coasts  of  Australia  and 
Asia,  to  all  our  Gulf  and  Atlantic  ports  and  the  ports  of  West- 
ern Europe.  The  following  tables  of  comparative  distances 
show  the  great  saving  in  time  by  the  Tehuantepec  route  : 


31 


TABLE  OF  COMPARATIVE  DISTANCES  IN  STATUTE  MILES. 


Total 
Distance. 


Excess  over 

Tehuantepec 

Route. 


FROM  NEW  YORK  TO  HONG  KONG. 

Via  Cape  Horn 20,379  miles.    8,777  miles. 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 16,945  5,343 

Suez  Canal 13,590  1,994 

Panama  R.  R , 12,953  1,351 

Isthmus  of  Telmantepec 11,602                  

NEW  YORK  TO  YOKOHAMA. 

Via  Cape  Horn 19,802  9,796 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 18,085  8,079 

Suez  Canal 15,527  5,521 

Panama  R.  R 11,256  1,250 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 10,006  

NEW  YORK  TO  AUCKLAND,  N.  Z. 

Via  Suez  Canal 16,871  7,447 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 16,719  7,295 

Cape  Horn 13,890  4,466 

Panama  R.  R 10,305  881 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 9,424  

NEW  YORK  TO  MELBOURNE. 

Via  Cape  Horn 15,215  4,150 

Suez  Canal 15,171  4,106 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 15,019  3,954 

Panama  R.  R 11,826  761 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  11,065  

NEW  YORK  TO  HONOLULU. 

Via  Cape  Horn 15,826  9,163 

Panama  R.  R 7,939  1,276 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 6,663  

NEW  YORK  TO  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

Via  Cape  Horn 15,687  10,797 

Panama  R.  R 6,063  1,173 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 4,890  

LIVERPOOL  TO  HONG  KONG. 

Via  Cape  Horn 20,606  5,353 

Panama  R.  R 16,471  1,218 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 15,722  469 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 15,253  .... 

LIVERPOOL  TO  YOKOHAMA. 

Via  Cape  Horn 19,400  5,945 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 17,653  4,198 

Panama  R.  R 14,540  1,085 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 13,455  

LIVERPOOL  TO  AUCKLAND,  N.  Z. 

Via  Cape  of  Good  Hope 16,221  3,412 

Suez  Canal 14,645  1,836 

Cape  Horn 13,897  1,088 

Panama  R.  R 13,312  503 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 12,809  


32 


TABLE  OF  COMPARATIVE  DISTANCES  IN  STATUTE  MILES, 

Excess  over 

Total  Tehuantepec 

Distance.  Koute. 

LIVERPOOL  TO  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

ViaCapeHorn 15,803  7,527 

Panama  R.  R 8,8*5  609 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepee 8,276  

NEW  ORLEANS  TO  HONG  KONG 

ViaCapeHorn 20,804  10,531 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 17,485  7,212 

Suez  Canal 15,108  4,835 

Panama  R.  R 12,308  2,035 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepee 10,273 

NEW  ORLEANS  TO  YOKOHAMA. 

ViaCapeHorn 20,227  11,590 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 18,625  9,988 

Suez  Canal 17,039  8,402 

Panama  R.  R 10,611  1,974 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepee 8,637 

NEW  ORLEANS  TO  AUCKLAND,  N.  Z. 

Via  Suez  Canal 18,381  10,286 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 17,259  9,164 

Cape  Horn 14,314  6,219 

PanamaR.  R 9,659  1,564 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepee 8,095  

NEW  ORLEANS  TO  MELBOURNE. 

Via  Suez  Canal 16,683  6,947 

Cape  Horn 15,640  5,904 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 15,560  5,824 

Panama  R  R 11,181  1,445 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepee 9,736  

NEW  ORLEANS  TO  HONOLULU. 

ViaCapeHorn 16,251  10,917 

Panama  R.  R 7,294  1,960 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepee 5,334  

NEW  ORLEANS  TO  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

ViaCapeHorn 16,112  12,551 

Panama  R.  R 5,418  3,857 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepee 3,561  

NEW  YORK  TO  VALPARAISO. 

ViaCapeHorn 10,051  3,682 

Panama  R.  R 5,417  

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepee 6,369  

NEW  ORLEANS  TO  VALPARAISO 

ViaCapeHorn 10,476  5,436- 

Panama  R,  R 4,772  

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 5,040  


33 

The  total  excess  of  distance  over  the  Tehuantepec  Route 
on  these  eighteen  principal  lines  is  269,926  miles,  or  more 
than  ten  times  the  circumference  of  the  earth. 

Other  things  being  equal  commerce  will  take  the  shortest 
lines,  whether  by  steam  or  sail.  The  age  is  seeking  for  quick 
despatch  in  the  delivery  of  all  classes  of  goods.  The  great 
saving  in  distance  by  the  Tehuantepec  route  is  seen  at  a 
glance.  The  cereals  of  the  Pacific  coast,  which  now  in  their 
passage  to  Europe  pass  around  Cape  Horn,  are  nearly  five 
months  on  the  way  ;  with  the  Ship  Railway,  the  distance  will 
be  shortened  nearly  ejght  thousand  miles  and  the  time  re- 
duced about  two  and  one-half  months.  This  business  is 
very  great,  and  is  rapidly  increasing,  even  under  the  great 
disadvantages  now  existing.  Reduce  the  distance  and  the 
time  one-half,  and  the  producers  of  the  Pacific  coast  may  com- 
pete to  much  better  advantage  with  the  producers  of  India, 
Australia  and  other  exporting  countries.  The  inevitable  re- 
sult will  be  that  the  area  of  wheat  lands  will  rapidly  increase 
on  the  Pacific  coast  ;  the  exports  will  double,  the  farmer  will 
obtain  better  prices  for  his  productions,  and  California,  Ore- 
gon and  Washington  Territory,  no  longer  separated  from  the 
world,  will  enjoy  that  prosperity  and  experience  that  growth 
that  their  fertile  soil  and  delightful  climate  have  a  right  to 
expect.  The  hardy  and  agricultural  immigrant  from  Europe 
who,  under  existing  circumstances  is  barred  out  from 
these  rich  lands  by  the  great  expense  in  reaching  them 
over  the  transcontinental  railroad  lines,  will,  by  way  of 
the  Tehuantepec  route,  seek  the  shores  of  the  Pacific. 
The  whole  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coasts  of  the  United  States 
and  Mexico  will  then  be  able  to  compete  for  the  trade 
of  Australasia,  China  and  Japan,  now  passing  westward  to 
Europe  and  New  York  through  the  Suez  Canal  in  steamers, 
or  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  sailing  vessels.  When 
it  is  borne  in  mind  that  the  commerce  of  Australasia  has  in- 
creased in  the  last  five  years  from  $225,000,000  to  $500,000,- 
ooo,  and  that  the  United  States  has  now  only  four  per  cent, 
of  that  trade,  the  advantage  of  a  direct  all-water  route  can 
readily  be  seen.  Attention  is  particularly  called  to  the  present 
most  unfortunate  position  of  all  the  ports  of  the  Gulf  of 


34 

Mexico,  hidden  away,  as  it  were,  on  the  further  shore  of  an 
inland  sea,  with  no  exit  to  the  world  except  in  one  direction. 
The  trade,  to  which  more  than  all  else,  England  owes  her 
commercial  greatness  and  her  wonderful  prosperity  in  com- 
merce, is  the  Eastern  trade.  The  trade  of  the  Pacific 
countries  alone  is  nearly  two  billion  dollars  per  annum. 
Consider  that  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  the  tributary  terri- 
tory to  the  ports  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  produce  every  year 
agricultural,  mineral  and  manufacturing  products  worth  over 
four  billion  dollars,  and  the  beneficial  results  of  opening  a 
trade  with  Asia,  Australasia  and  Polynesia  for  all  the  surplus 
productions  of  this  great  valley  cannot  be  grasped  by  the 
imagination. 

What  route  could  be  more  favorable  than  that  of  Tehuan- 
tepec  ?  Then,  consider  that  the  whole  western  coast  of  South 
America  and  Mexico,  with  a  trade  even  now,  via  Cape  Horn 
and  the  Panama  Railroad,  of  about  1,000,000  tons  per  annum, 
will  be  brought  by  the  Ship  Railway  thousands  of  miles  nearer 
Vera  Cruz,  Galveston,  New  Orleans,  New  York  and  other 
Atlantic  ports  and  Liverpool,  and  it  is  at  once  seen  what 
incentive  will  be  given,  not  only  to  trade  and  commerce,  but 
.  to  productions. 

The  Tehuantepec  route  also,  will  be  able  to  carry  much 
of  the  heavy  freights  that  now  can  pass  from  the  Pacific  to 
the  Mississippi  valley  and  the  Atlantic  coast  only  by  expen- 
sive railroad  transportation,  too  expensive  for  the  class  of 
goods  under  consideration.  The  railways  will,  however, 
reap  an  immense  profit  from  the  construction  of  the  Ship  Rail- 
way by  the  development  of  the  whole  Pacific  coast. 

It  is  proper  to  call  attention  here  to  the  statement  of  Lieut. 
Maury,  already  given,  in  reference  to  the  currents  and  winds  in 
this  new  highway  of  commerce.  No  one  will  deny  his  right  to 
teach  or  attempt  to  doubt  his  authority.  In  the  same  direc- 
tion are  the  statements  of  Captain  Silas  Bent,  who,  before  the 
Merchants'  Exchange  of  St.  Louis,  pending  the  unanimous 
adoption  by  that  body  of  the  resolution  recommending  a  fa- 
vorable consideration  of  the  ship  railway  to  the  United  States 
Government,  stated  as  follows  : 

"  Mere  statements  of  the  difference  in  miles  is  a  very  inadequate 


35 

"  measure  of  the  difference  in  time  that  would  be  occupied  by  sailing 
"  vessels  in  making  these  several  passages,  and  when  we  consider  that 
"  three-fourths  of  the  ocean  commerce  of  the  world  is  carried  in  sail- 
"  ing  vessels,  you  can  see  what  an  important  factor  this  question  of 
"  sailing-time  becomes  in  the  solution  of  the  problem  before  us. 

"  The  northeast  trade  winds  which  extend  across  the  Atlantic  are 
"  so  broken  and  interrupted  when  they  encounter  the  West  India  Isl- 
"  ands,  that  they  never  penetrate  the  Caribbean  Sea  ;  but  the  north- 
"  west  portion  of  them,  however,  do  extend  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
"  and  often  so  far  down  as  to  reach  well  toward  Tehuantepec,  so  that 
"  whilst  in  the  Gulf  winds  are  always  found,  yet  the  Caribbean  Sea 
"  remains  a  region  of  almost  relentless  calm. 

"  Nor  is  this  all,  for  the  mountain  ranges,  extending  the  length  of 
"  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  and  through  Central  America,  offer  a  still 
"  more  formidable  barrier  to  the  passage  of  these  winds,  thus  throw- 
"  ing  them  still  higher  into  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
"  extending  these  calms  far  out  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  on  the  parallel 
"  of  Panama,  with  lessening  width,  for  fifteen  or  eighteen  hundred 
"  miles  to  the  northwest,  along  the  coast  of  Central  America. 

"  This  whole  region  of  calms,  both  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  in  the 
"  Pacific  Ocean,  is  so  well  known  to  navigators  that  sailing  vessels 
"  always  shun  it,  if  possible,  though  they  may  have  to  run  a  thousand 
*  miles  our.  of  their  way  to  do  so. 

"  This  absence  of  wind  of  course  leaves  this  vast  area  exposed  to 
"  the  unmitigated  heat  of  a  torrid  sun,  except  when  relieved  momen- 
"  tarily  by  harassing  squalls  in  the  dry  season,  and  by  the1  deluging 
"  rainfalls  of  the  wet  season.  With  these  meterological  facts  in  view, 
"  let  us  now  suppose  that  the  Lesseps  Canal  at  Panama,  and  the  Eads 
"  Railway  at  Tehuantepec  are  both  completed  and  in  running  order  ; 
"  then  let  us  start  two  sailing  ships,  of  equal  tonnage  and  equal  speed 
"  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  with  cargo  for  China,  one  to  go 
"  by  the  way. of  the  Panama  Canal,  and  the  other  by  the  way  of  the 
u  Tehuantepec  Railway,  and  I  venture  to  affirm  that  by  the  time  the 
"  Panama  vessel  has  cleared  the  canal  and  floats  in  the  waters  of  the 
"  Pacific,  the  Tehuantepec  vessel  will  have  scaled  the  Isthmus  and 
"  be  well  on  to  the  meridian  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  ;  and  that  be- 
"  fore  the  former  vessel  can  worry  through  the  fifteen  or  more  hun- 
"  dred  miles  of  windless  ocean  before  her,  to  reach  the  trade  winds 
"  to  the  westward  of  Tehuantepec,  the  latter  will  have  sped  five  thou- 
"  sand  miles  on  her  way  across  the  Pacific,  and  be  fully  thirty  days 
"  ahead  of  her  adversary.  For  it  is  a  fact  worth  mentioning  hene, 


36 

*'  that  the  strength  of  the  northeast  trade  winds  in  the  Pacific,  as  well 
"  as  the  maximum  strength  of  the  northern  portion  of  the  great  equa- 
"  torial  current  in  that  ocean,  are  both  found  on  or  near  the  parallel 
"  of  latitude  of  Tehuantepec,  the  former  blowing  with  an  impelling 
"  force  to  the  westward  of  ten  or  twelve  miles  an  hour,  and  the  latter 
"  with  a  following  strength  of  three  or  four  miles  per  hour." 

From  the  facts  and  statements  advanced,  and  from  the  gen- 
eral opinion  of -navigators,  we  are  bold  to  say  that  the  Te- 
huantepec route  not  only  greatly  reduces  the  distances  of  all 
the  present  steamer  and  sailing  lines,  but  is  in  every  way  pre- 
ferable to  any  other  contemplated  route  in  respect  to  winds 
and  currents,  and  in  being  so  near  to  the  commerce  and  pro- 
ductions of  the  vast  and  rapidly  growing  country  lying  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  Pacific. 

The  Senate  Committee  previously  referred  to,  in  the  follow- 
ing unequivocal  language,  not  only  gave  their  opinion  in  favor 
of  the  Tehuantepec  route,  but  supported  this  opinion  by  that 
given  by  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

"  During  the  third  session  of  the  46th  Congress  a  special 
committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  charged  with  the 
duty  of  considering  all  questions  relating  to  the  Isthmus 
transit,  after  an  exhaustive  investigation  reported  in  favor  of 
Mr.  Eads'  Ship  Railway  project,  and  selected  Tehuantepec  as 
by  all  means  the  most  preferable  route  for  the  transit-way." 
That  portion  of  the  report  of  the  House  Committee  referred 
to  above,  is  as  follows  : 

"  Mr.  Eads  has  selected  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  and  your 
"  Committee  unhesitatingly  finds  and  reports  that,  of  all  the  routes 
"  across  the  isthmus,  Tehuantepec  is  essentially  the  American  route. 
"  A  glance  at  the  map  will  at  once  demonstrate  the  correctness  of 
"  this  assertion.  If  a  vessel  leaving  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
"  river,  bound  for  California  or  the  Orient,  cross  the  isthmus  at 
"  Tehuantepec,  her  voyage  will  be  1250  miles  shorter  in  distance 
"  than  if  she  crossed  at  Nicaragua,  and  2,200  miles  shorter  than  if 
"  she  crossed  at  Panama.  If  a  vessel  leaving  New  York,  bound  for 
"  the  same  destination,  cross  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  her  voy- 
"  age  will  be  750  miles  shorter  than  if  she  went  by  Nicaragua,  and 
"  1,250  miles  shorter  than  if  she  went  by  Panama.  Inasmuch  as  this 
^  large  saving  of  distance  chiefly  affects  only  the  commerce  of  this 


37 

"  country  and  that  of  Mexico,  and  not  the  commerce  of  Europe,  it 
"  must  be  at  once  apparent  that  the  location  of  a  transit  way  at 
"  Tehuantepec  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  commercial  interests  of 
"  the  United  States. 

"  The  saving  of  distance  is  synonymous  with  cheap  transportation. 
"  Both  at  Panama  and  Nicaragua,  at  various  periods  throughout  the 
"  year,  calms  prevail  to  an  extent  which  would  greatly  decrease  the 
"  value  of  either  of  the  routes  for  sailing  vessels.  Such,  however,  is  not 
"  the  case  at  Tehuantepec,  as  favorable  winds  .always  prevail  there, 
"  thus  affording  a  guarantee  of  no  serious  detention  to  sailing 
"  vessels  seeking  a  passage  by  that  route." 

The  advantage  also  of  the  Ship  Railway  is  seen  when  we 
compare  its  cost  with  any  sea  level  canal  or  canal  with  locks 
that  has  been  projected.  The  surveys  that  have  been  made, 
already  referred  to,  the  plans  of  the  harbors,  all  of  which 
have  been  carefully  considered  ;  the  details  of  the  mechanical 
work  which  have  been  fully  prepared,  show  that  an  estimate 
of  $50,000,000  in  cash,  is  ample  to  complete  and  fully  equip 
the  Ship  Railway.  The  maintenance  of  the  works,  considering 
the  substantial  character  of  the  construction  will  be  inexpen- 
sive. The  cost  of  hauling  ships  over  this  railway  will  be  no 
more  than  that  of  towing  and  protecting  steamers  and  sailing 
vessels  through  a  narrow  canal.  The  speed  of  vessels  through 
the  canal  at  Panama  will  not  be  more  than  from  two  and  one- 
half  to  three  miles  per  hour — on  the  railway  ten  miles  per 
hour  can  be  attained — eighteen  hours  is  ample  time  from 
ocean  to  ocean.  It  is  confidently  believed  that  the  cost  of 
operating  will  be  so  much  reduced,  with  no  freight  to  be 
handled,  no  large  clerical  force  to  be  employed,  no  great 
number  of  train  hands  and  other  employees  required  as  on 
ordinary  railroads,  and  the  cost  of  maintenance  so  small, 
that  the  Ship  Railway  can  carry  its  freights  for  from  thirty- 
five  to  forty  per  cent,  of  its  gross  receipts.  The  advantages 
in  this  respect  are  very  fully  stated  in  the  following  extracts 
from  a  letter  of  General  G.  T.  Beauregard  : 

"  With  regard  to  the  economy  of  such  a  ship  railway,  I  would  re- 
"  mark  that  the  tonnage  carried  over  it  being  moved  entirely  by 
"  machinery,  and  the  ratio  of  paying  cargo  to  dead  weight  being 
"  much  greater  than  on  ordinary  railroads,  the  cost  of  operating 


38 

"  such  a  railway  must  be  much  less.  The  cost  of  maintenance  should 
"  also  be  less  in  proportion,  for  the  road  would  be  substantially  built 
"  and  short  in  comparison  to  the  amount  of  tonnage  carried  over  it. 
"  Moreover  the  machinery  used  should  be  simple  and  substantially 
"  made.  It  is,  therefore,  safe  to  assume  that  the  current  expenses 
"  and  those  of  maintenance  would  not  exceed  fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
"  gross  receipts,  which  would  be  more  "profitable  than  from  a  canal 
"  costing  probably  two  or  three  times  more  than  a  ship  railway,  and 
"  three  or  four  times  longer  to  build,  thereby  increasing  greatly  the 
"  amount  of  interest  alone  on  the  actual  cost  of  the  canal." 

The  advantages  secured  for  this  route  by  the  liberality  of 
the  Republic  of  Mexico,  which  takes  a  great  interest  in  the 
construction  of  this  important  work  on  her  territory,  is  seen 
in  the  favorable  terms  of  the  concession  granted  to  Mr.  Eads 
by  that  republic.  Briefly,  they  are  as  follows  :— 

The  right  to  construct  a  ship  railway,  an  ordinary  railway 
and  a  line  of  telegraph  ;  to  occupy  a  right  of  way  about  one- 
quarter  of  a  mile  in  width  ;  a  free  right  of  way  on  public 
lands;  exemption  from  all  duties  on  ships,  passengers  and  mer- 
chandise in  transit  ;  importation  free  of  duty  of  all  materials 
required  for  construction  or  maintenance  of  the  railway;  ex- 
emption from  all  taxes  or  other  contributions  on  capital  stock 
and  all  property  of  the  company  ;  a  grant  of  1,000,000  acres 
of  public  lands  ;  a  guarantee  of  protection  by  the  use,  if 
necessary,  of  naval  and  military  forces  without  expense  to  the 
company. 

In  concluding  this  important  part  of  the  subject,  it  should 
be  remembered  that  this  route  is  especially  American,  that 
its  realization  will  inevitably  result  in  the  exaltation  of 
the  Republic  of  the  United  States  of  the  North  and 
of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States  of  Mexico,  and 
that  this  new  tie  between  these  sister  republics  will 
serve  to  bind  them  together  in  stronger  bonds.  The 
great  changes  which  the  Ship  Railway  will  bring  to  both 
countries  is  an  important  supplement  to  those  benefits 
which  both  have  reaped  and  will  continue  to  reap  from  the 
construction  of  railways  throughout  all  their  vast  extent.  Pen 
cannot  decribe  ;  tongue  fails  to  tell  ;  none  but  a  prophet 
gifted  with  a  vision  of  the  great  future  could  draw  the 


39 


picture  of  the  western  world  fifty  years  from  now,  with  this, 
the  last  of  the  commercial  barriers  forever  broken  down. 

FOURTH. 
BUSINESS  AND  REVENUE. 

It  is  proposed,  in  treating  this  subject,  to  give  a  fair  and  re- 
liable statement  of  the  commerce  that  will  either  be  diverted 
from  the  present  lines  or  be  developed  from  altogether  new 
sources  of  trade.  To  fully  appreciate  and  understand  the  re- 
sults to  be  stated,  an  intimate  knowledge  is  requisite  of  the; 
sources  of  trade,  of  the  supply  and  demand,  of  the  handling 
of  different  varieties  of  products  of  agriculture,  manufactures 
and  the  mines  ;  of  the  distance  now  traversed  by  the  trade  of 
one  country  with  another  ;  of  the  kind  and  amount  of  pro- 
ductions and  the  trade  of  each  country  ;  the  reasons  for  the 
trade  of,  and  with,  certain  countries  increasing  or  decreasing; 
and  many  other  facts  and  conditions  that  affect  the  commerce 
of  the  world. 

It  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  enumerate  the  great  num- 
ber of  details  that  go  to  make  up  the  general  items  of  the 
commercial  estimate.  A  few  only  are  mentioned  to  familiar- 
ize the  reader  with  the  subject,  and  to  show  that,  even  under  all 
the  disadvantages  now  existing,  there  is  a  foundation  on  which 
a  substantial  and  important  commerce  may  be  built  by  the 
operation  of  the  Tehuantepec  Ship  Railway.  The  United 
States  has  a  feeble  commerce  with  the  United  States  of  Co- 
lombia on  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  carried  on  either 
over  the  Panama  Railroad  or  around  Cape  Horn.  It  imports 
from  that  country,  coffee,  barks,  hides  and  india  rubber,  and 
exports  to  it  iron,  steel,  machinery,  lard,  cotton  goods,  flour, 
paper,  etc.  With  Peru,  it  has  a  trade  in  soda  and  guano,  and 
exports  to  it  cereals,  machinery,  woods,  crude  and  mineral 
oil.  Strange  to  say,  on  account  of  the  difficulties  in  trading 
at  present  with  this  country,  many  of  the  articles  are  shipped 
from  Peru  to  France  on  French  steamers,  and  then  re- 
shipped  to  New  York.  We  have  a  similar  trade  with  Chili. 
Our  China  trade,  either  across  the  Continent  by  rail,  or  by  the 


40 

Panama  Railroad,  Cape  Horn,  Cape  Good  Hope  or  Suez 
Canal,  is  imports  of  tea,  silk,  rice,  palm-leaf,  jute  and  hemp 
and  exports  of  cotton  cloth,  mineral  oil,  etc.  We  have  about 
the  same  character  of  trade  with  Hong  Kong  and  Japan.  With 
Australasia  we  have  the  foundations  of  a  diversified  trade  to  be 
built  up  when  the  ship  railway  is  completed.  The  principal 
imports  from  that  country  to  the  Atlantic  coasts  of  the 
United  States  are  gums,  tins,  coal  and  wool.  The  principal 
exports  are  locomotives,  machinery,  iron  manufactures,  house- 
hold furniture,  agricultural  implements,  illuminating  oils,  bar- 
ley, carriages,  trunks,  sewing  machines,  linen  and  cotton 
•goods,  books,  etc.,  etc.  The  most  important  manufactures 
exported  to  that  country  are  twenty-seven  in  number  : 

The  various  groups  of  islands  in  Polynesia  have  a  trade  that 
will  become  important.  There  is  now,  with  the  Sandwich 
Islands  alone,  a  commerce  of  over  $6,000,000.  We  receive 
from  them  brown  sugar,  rice  and  limes,  and  send  them  the 
same  general  class  of  goods  that  go  to  Australasia. 

In  1879  an  estimate  was  made  by  Joseph  Nimmo,  Jr.,  Chief 
of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics,  of  the  commerce  that  might  have 
crossed  the  Isthmus  in  that  year  (distance  alone  considered). 
His  estimate  was  about  3,000,000  tons.  In  estimating  for  1889, 
ten  years  after,  it  is  important  to  note  very  marked  changes 
and  an  increase  in  commerce  ;  to  estimate  for  Tehuantepec 
instead  of  Panama,  and  to  include  new  business  to  be  de- 
veloped, which  was  not  then  taken  into  consideration.  A 
notable  advance  has  been  made  in  the  trade  of  the  Pacific 
coast  with  foreign  countries  east  of  Cape  Horn.  The  esti- 
mate of  1879  was  551,929  tons.  The  amount  actually  exported 
and  imported  in  1882  was,  including  900,000  tons  of  cereals 
and  other  exports  and  imports,  1,423,737  tons.  This  increase, 
be  it  remembered,  took  place  even  under  the  extraordinary 
obstacles  and  disadvantages  that  existed,  and  is  the  business 
around  Cape  Horn  alone,  and  does  not  include  any  transcon- 
tinental or  Panama  Railway  business.  The  commerce  be- 
tween the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  ports  of  the  United  States 
has  nearly  doubled  in  five  years.  Again,  in  1882  the  earnings 
of  the  grain  fleet  of  the  Pacific  Coast  with  Europe  was  over 
$15,000,000,  and  the  earnings  from  the  through  freights  be- 


41 

tween  San  Francisco  and  New  York  over  the  transcontinental 
railroad  lines  was  more  than  this  sum.  We  may  conclude  that 
the  tonnage  of  the  latter  is  larger  also,  or  say  1,500,000 
tons.  The  increase  with  the  opening  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
and  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroads  since  then,  and  from  other 
causes  has  been  very  great.  The  bulky  and  non-paying  of  the 
above  freights  will  probably  be  diverted  to  the  Ship  Railway. 
Again,  on  account  of  the  impracticability  of  sailing  vessels  nav- 
igating the  Suez  Canal  route,  about  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the 
business  between  the  United  Kingdom  and  the  East  Indies  is 
still  carried  on  by  sailing  vessels  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
As  the  winds  and  currents  are  favorable  for  sailing  vessels  via 
Tehuantepec,  and  as  the  distance  from  many  points  to  Europe 
is  shorter  by  this  line  than  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  a  cer- 
tain part  of  the  800,000  tons  now  going  by  that  route  will 
probably  pass  over  the  Ship  Railway.  Attention  is  now  par- 
ticularly called  to  the  entirely  new  trade  which  will  result 

•    j 

from  the  commercial  extension  of  the  Mississippi  River  into 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  the  union  of  the  shore  lines  of  the  Gulf 
and  the  Pacific.  Consider  that  the  Mississippi  River  has  an 
aggregate  length  of  trunk  and  branches  of  165,000  miles  ;  that 
it  has  forty-two  navigable  tributaries,  that  many  of  these 
tributaries,  and  the  main  Mississippi  itself  is  paralleled  by 
prosperous  lines  of  railroad  ;  that  the  six  trunk  lines  termin- 
ating at  New  Orleans  aggregate  12,559  rniles  ',  that  the 
annual  internal  commerce  of  this  great  valley  aggregates 
nearly  $4,000,000,000  ;  that  the  import  and  export  trade  of 
the  Pacific  countries,  Asia  and  the  islands  of  the  Pacific 
amounts  to  $2,000.000,000  ;  that  the  cities  of  the  United  States, 
Mexico  and  the  Antilles  on  the  Gulf  will  fall  legitimate  heirs 
to  this  trade  and  the  interchange  of  the  immense  surplus  pro- 
ductions ;  and  we  may  certainly  consider  1,000,000  tons  as  an 
item  of  our  estimate  for  Vera  Cruz,  Galveston,  New  Orleans 
and  other  Gulf  ports,  and  Havana.  The  various  items  made 
up  from  reliable  sources  give  an  estimate  for  the  Ship  Rail- 
way business  in  1889,  of  7,564,597  tons,  the  details  of  which 
are  given  in  the  following  table  : 


DETAILED    STATEMENT    OF    TONNAGE    EXPECTED 
OVER    THE    SHIP    RAILWAY, 

In    1889. 


ROUTES  BY  WHICH  COMMERCE  MOVES.       a 
1    Panama  Railroad                

Tons  1883. 

Actual  Tonnage 
carried  by  steam 
nd  sail  on  routes 
longer  than  via 
Tehuantepec. 

77,958 
237,341 
349,454 
1,423,737 
1,828,621 
125,000 
400,000 

400,000 

Tons  1889. 

Estimated  from 
ratio  of  increase  of 
commerce  on  the 
routes  from  1879  to 
1883,  and  from  new 
business  to  be 
developed. 

60,000 
359,081 
489,135 
2,135,605 

2..  285,  776 
235,000 
600,000 

400,000 
1,000,000 

2.  U.  S.  Pacific  Coast  with  Atlantic  via 
Cape  Horn  .  .  .  .  

3.  Atlantic  Ports  with  Countries  west  of 
Cape  Horn  .  .  

4.  U.  S.  Pacific  Coast  with  foreign  coun- 
tries east  of  Cape  Horn  

5.  European  Countries  with  Countries  west 
of  Cape  Horn  other  than  U  .  S  

6.  British  Columbia  (Pacific  Coast)  with 
Europe  

7.  Slow  bulky  freights  now  going  over 
Transcontinental  lines 

8.  Fifty  per  cent,  of  tonnage  now  going 
from  Asiatic  Countries  to  Europe  via 
Cape  of  Grood  Hope  .  .  . 

9.  New  trade  to  be  developed  by  Ship 
Railway  between  Gulf  Ports  of  U.  S. 
and  Mexico  and  Pacific  Ocean  

Total, 

4,842,111 

7,564,597 

The  Paris  Inter-oceanic  Canal  Congress,  held  in  1879, 
estimated  7,250,000  tons  as  the  tonnage  in  1889. 

Assuming  6,000,000  tons  as  a  perfectly  safe  estimate,  the 
annual  gross  receipts,  at  $3.00  per  ton,  will  be  $18,000,000. 
Deducting  forty  per  cent,  for  operating  expenses,  there  re- 
mains $10,800,000  of  profit  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of 
interest  and  dividends,  equal,  to  ten  per  cent,  on  $108,000,000. 
A  generous  estimate  for  bonds  and  stock  for  the  construction 
of  the  Ship  Railway  will  not  exceed  $75,000,000.  The  net 
profit  of  $10,800,000  will  give  an  annual  return  on  this 
amount  of  about  14^  per  cent. 

A  tax  of  $2.00  per  ton  would  yield  a  net  profit  of  $7,200,- 
ooo,  equivalent  to  9  6-10  per  cent,  on  $75,000,000,  or  5  per 
cent,  on  $144,000,000. 


43 

No  one  who  has  watched  the  development  of  trade  and 
commerce  on  all  lines,  by  rail  or  water,  will  doubt  for  a  mo- 
ment that  a  rapid  increase  of  business  willjtake  place  over  the 
Ship  Railway.  No  more  convincing  argument,  or  one  more 
concisely  stated,  could  be  given  than  in  the  summary 
of  the  Suez  Canal  history  by  Prof.  J.  E.  Nourse,  U.  S.  N.,  who 
has,  this  year  (1884),  published  an  intensely  interesting,  in- 
structive and  complete  record  of  the  Suez  Canal,  and  from 
which  we  can  take  a  precedent  and  learn  a  valuable  lesson 
for  the  development  of  business  over  the  Ship  Railway  : 

"  First  blow  struck,  1859.  The  Mediterranean  admitted  to 
"  Lake  Timsah  in  1862.  Transport  of  a  small  vessel,  1865. 
"  Inauguration  of  the  canal,  1869.  The  estimated  tonnage  of 
"  6,000,000  tons  reached,  1884.  A  new  canal  demanded.  De- 
"  cision  to  double  the  width  of  the  present  canal.  Revenue, 
"  1870  to  1874  (three  years),  $6,112,129.  Revenue  for  the 
"  one  year,  1883,  $I3»7O2,4I3.  Expectation  of  $10,000,000  in 
"  1888  is  reported  by  the  British  directors.  Dividend,  1882, 
"17  per  cent  ;  dividend  expected  in  1890,  3O  per  cent." 

As  has  been  shown  before,  the  possibilities  and  probabili- 
ties for  a  great  commerce  over  the  Ship  Railway  compare  fa- 
vorably with  the  Suez  Canal.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
when  this  route  has  been  opened  a  few  years,  an  epitomized 
record  and  prophecy  may  be  given  that  will  compare  favora- 
bly with  the  above. 

We  have  now  covered  very  briefly  (for  the  importance  of  the 
subject,)  the  commercial  necessities,  the  practicability,  the 
advantages,  the  business  and  the  revenue  of  the  Tehuante- 
pec  Ship  Railway. 

A  thoughtful  consideration  of  this  important  subject  by  the 
people  of  the  United  States  and  Mexico  is  earnestly  requested. 

In  a  broader  sense  it  may  be  said  that  the  construction  of 
the  Tehuantepec  Ship  Railway  will  be  productive  of  beneficial 
results  of  transcendent  importance  to  the  nations. 

On  this  bridge  of  the  world's  commerce  and  civilization 
the  Orient  and  the  Occident  will  clasp  hands  in  fraternal  and 
perpetual  union. 


ERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  TJ 


